In their latest move to vilify the National Security Law enforced in Hong Kong, the China-bashers in the West launched another attack on the law last Monday, under the guise of the “Media Freedom Coalition”.
In a joint statement issued on Feb 7, they accused Beijing and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region authorities of suppressing independent local media and infringing on press freedom by leveraging the National Security Law for Hong Kong, citing the recent shutdown of online news portals Stand News and Citizen News.
But they conveniently skipped over the fact that Stand News shut itself down after it was raided by police for “inciting hatred” against the authorities in violation of a sedition law, which has nothing to do with the National Security Law for Hong Kong, promulgated on June 30, 2020; nor has it anything to do with press freedom.
Freedom of the press and speech has been maintained unchanged in Hong Kong, safeguarded by the Basic Law. And the media landscape in the city is still very vibrant, with new media outlets continuously emerging and being fully accessible
Risking earning a bad name for noble causes such as the promotion of democracy, rights and freedom, those China-bashers have, without fail, wielded these terms whenever they bad-mouthed China and its Hong Kong SAR for political ends. No exception this time.
They are oblivious to the fact that rights, including freedom of the press or speech, are not absolute. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights does sanction limitations on these rights for “the protection of national security” as well as other legitimate purposes as stipulated by law.
Stand News had published a series of articles inciting violence and lawbreaking and stoking hatred against Beijing and the HKSAR government, playing into the hands of separatists who have been striving to turn the special administrative region into an independent political entity. One of the allegedly seditious articles published by Stand News, titled “Viewing the future of Hong Kong’s resistance from the experience of resistance in Northern Ireland”, openly suggested that Hong Kong’s political activists, in pursuing their political agenda for the city, should not rule out the use of armed conflict, as their counterparts in Northern Ireland did during “The Troubles” era from 1968-98. The police actions against the news portal are very necessary and legitimate for upholding the rule of law in Hong Kong as well as safeguarding China’s national security and other interests in the special administrative region.
Meanwhile, Citizen News announced its own fold-up, saying that the decision to close was prompted by the Stand News arrests and concern for staff safety.
It is hard to imagine that any individual or institution should worry about their safety from legal consequences if they have not breached any law. Of course, as the old saying goes, “Guilty consciences make men cowards.”
Tellingly, Citizen News’ chief writer, Chris Yeung Kin-hing, said the outlet had not been approached by law enforcement, but that he heard “directly and indirectly” that online media outlets were being targeted.
Freedom of the press and speech has been maintained unchanged in Hong Kong, safeguarded by the Basic Law. And the media landscape in the city is still very vibrant, with new media outlets continuously emerging and being fully accessible. According to the Hong Kong SAR government’s records, a total of 209 media organizations have registered in Hong Kong, showing a slight increase after the implementation of the National Security Law for Hong Kong. While the major Western media outlets, which have been lavishing time and efforts on their relentless China-bashing endeavors, can still be freely accessed in Hong Kong, the existing media outlets represented different schools of thought with varying and opposing voices. Take the recent pandemic control strategy, for instance: The media can freely publish any opinions against the government’s current strategy, and people, including ordinary individuals and key opinion leaders, can freely criticize the government’s measures or express their concerns at any format of the media exposure.
It is crystal-clear that in any country, nobody is allowed to undertake any criminal activity in the name of freedom of the press or speech. Freedom of media is not without any boundaries; it is never allowed to overstep national security and public safety.
The conclusion can be easily drawn by any fair-minded individual who genuinely cares for Hong Kong that the so-called Media Freedom Coalition’s joint statement on Hong Kong’s press freedom is flawed, biased and opinionated. However craftily they have manipulated their rhetoric, the China-bashers cannot fool people around the world with their politically driven accusations against Hong Kong, a place ruled by the law as evidenced by the WJP Rule of Law Index 2021, compiled by the World Justice Project. For its “strong adherence to the rule of law”, Hong Kong ranked 19th in the 2021 Index, well ahead of many Western countries, such as France (23rd), the United States (27th) and Italy (34th).
The author is co-founder of the Hong Kong Coalition and a council member of the Chinese Young Entrepreneurs’ Association.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.