In times of lingering fears about press freedom that have been deepened by the recent conviction of two Stand News editors for sedition charges, reports of harassment of dozens of journalists by unidentified individuals and/or forces have added more gloom to media freedom in Hong Kong.

Responding to the claims by the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) on Friday, senior government officials have called on journalists to “come out and report” to the police. They assured they would conduct an investigation with “impartiality”.

Journalists – and anyone – who have been intimidated should give Police the benefit of doubt, heed their calls and come forward.

To show they meant what they said, the Government should do more talk than walk to help safeguard press freedom by hunting down those who have harassed journalists for investigation.

The harassments

On Friday, the HKJA said dozens of reporters, their family members and employers, as well as neighbors and landlords, have been harassed in what it described as a “systematic attack against media workers”.

“Since June, self-proclaimed ‘patriots’ have sent anonymous complaints by email or letter to at least 15 journalists’ family members and their family members’ employers, landlords and related organisations, including charities, schools and private businesses.

“The format of each email or letter is similar but tailored to the different identities and characteristics of a given organisation or individual,” said the journalists’ union.

HKJA said the targeted reporters and media organisations involved two journalism education institutions and 13 international and local media outlets, including Hong Kong Free Press, InMediaHK, HK Feature and those sitting on the association’s executive committee.

Many of the letters and emails, which were received between June and August, warned recipients that if they continued to associate with the journalists in question or their family members, they could be violating the domestic national security law, the association said.

Michael Cheuk, Under Secretary for Security, said he was unaware of the claims.

“Hong Kong is a place of rule of law. We condemn all sorts of actions that should be outlawed. Any individual should be free from threats, free from fear, and free from harassment… Irrespective of who you are, if you are receiving such threat or harassment, please come out and report,” he said.

The association also raised concerns about an apparent government data leak, saying certain individuals received threatening messages shortly after being searched by customs officers upon entering Hong Kong.

“I don’t think there’s any basis of that allegation. At the moment, we haven’t received any information that our database of any individual department has been compromised,” Cheuk said.

Timing

HKJA said the harassment cases reportedly began to occur in June. It was about the time the journalists group convened its annual general meeting to elect new office-bearers. This year’s election was held amid a controversy over the participation of several journalists who worked for foreign media outlets in the executive committee election.

Their candidacy was the subject of sharp attacks by pro-Beijing media outlets, claiming that it was a case of evidence of interference by foreign forces. Those journalists have been branded as “anti-China” by pro-Beijing media outlets. Their previous reports on issues such as the national security law and the 2019 social movement have been cited as “evidence”.

HKJA said the anonymous complaints were sent by self-proclaimed “patriots”.

Who those “patriots” are is for the Police to ascertain. It would only be in the best interest of the city’s patriots if Police is able to clear the air over the alleged harassment.

Hong Kong is widely hailed as a safe city. If the harassment cases are found to be true, it is not just a serious threat to press freedom, but a blatant challenge to the city’s rule of law. It also makes a mockery of Beijing’s goal for Hong Kong, translated as “from chaos to order, from stability to prosperity.”

If the reported cases of harassment are mired in mystery for whatever reasons at the end of the day, the government could also emerge as a victim. It will face an uphill battle against doubts and jitters over the city’s rule of law, law and order, media freedom and freedom from fear in Hong Kong and the international community.

（Photo : HKJA）

▌[At Large] About the Author

Chris Yeung is a veteran journalist, a founder and chief writer of the now-disbanded CitizenNews; he now runs a daily news commentary channel on Youtube. He had formerly worked with the South China Morning Post and the Hong Kong Economic Journal.