Anti-China foreign powers have recently started a new stereotyped and prejudiced trick of slandering the National Security Law for Hong Kong and the press freedom of Hong Kong, aiming to disrupt the ongoing 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and divert the substantial discontent of their nationals with their own domestic problems.
This time, the so-called “Media Freedom Coalition” issued a statement via the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office of the United Kingdom to express its “deep concern” over the press freedom of Hong Kong.
Like all other previous distorted accusations, the statement focuses on the recent closure of two media outlets, Stand News and Citizen News, accusing Beijing and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government of using the National Security Law to curb press freedom in Hong Kong.
However, to mislead the rest of the world, the statement deliberately omits the fact that the two mentioned media portals continued to publish seditious and subversive material to incite hatred against the authorities, and called for foreign sanctions against China and its HKSAR even after the National Security Law came into effect on June 30, 2020.
It makes another exaggeration by saying, “These ongoing actions further undermine confidence in Hong Kong’s international reputation.” Nevertheless, figures speak the truth. According to governmental information, the total number of media organizations registered with the HKSAR government increased to 209 after the National Security Law was passed.
People of Hong Kong have been enjoying a very high degree of press freedom, which is protected under the Basic Law and Hong Kong Bill of Rights. News media have been and are still free to criticize the government’s policies or mismanagement. But like other democracies in the world, which would also not tolerate sedition and subversion, press freedom must not go above the law. Hong Kong is a city of law and order, journalists have no privilege to break the law.
With so many domestic problems themselves, the “Media Freedom Coalition” should keep its suggestions to itself and mind its own business
On the other hand, the number of business operations in Hong Kong with parent companies overseas or on the Chinese mainland has risen to 9,049, a 10 percent growth since 2017, while the number of startups in Hong Kong has increased to 3,755 in 2021, an increase of 68.5 percent since 2017, both reaching record highs. These figures convincingly show that Hong Kong’s business environment remains vibrant and is still an ideal place for companies to start and develop their businesses.
Those Western media who like to demonize the National Security Law always evade the truth that after its enactment in June 2020, the law and order of Hong Kong has been restored to its normality following a year of social turmoil. At the height of the anti-extradition protests, which started in mid-2019, street violence was the order of the day, with black-clad mobs throwing petrol bombs, vandalizing shops and public transport facilities, attacking the legislature, police stations, police officers and people of different political views. Law-abiding residents lived in fear daily, and business operations were severely disrupted.
Some media, such as the now-defunct Apple Daily and Stand News, had abused press freedom by promoting subversive ideas and seditious materials to incite people, especially young people and students, to violence, making the stipulation and enactment of the National Security Law essential.
More and more evidence has been collected by the authorities to justify that the 2019 social unrest was virtually a “color revolution”, aiming to overthrow the HKSAR government by manipulating the people’s power. The behind-the-scenes foreign forces funded and assisted various local agents and proxies to incite protestors to violence, creating chaos in the city. Their first step was to replace the administration with their handpicked “democrats”, hoping to set up a bridgehead that could ultimately overthrow the central government.
The unexpected enactment of the National Security Law, which is powerful enough to deter lawbreakers, has shattered their plot of destroying Hong Kong, so this particular piece of law has become their eyesore. That explains why the Western media keep using the pretext of press freedom to vilify it.
That the so-called “Media Freedom Coalition” issues this statement at this particular moment is a calculated act to maximize its impact-creating negative noises to smear the Beijing Olympic Winter Games and crack the consensus of Hong Kong in fighting its current fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Obviously, they want to kill two birds with one stone. But they are doomed to fail.
Given the fact that press freedom in Hong Kong is not diminishing as some Western countries have always falsely accused, they are actually meddling in the internal affairs of China because Hong Kong is part of China. As we know, the principle of noninterference stipulated in the United Nations Charter requires sovereign states not to intervene in each other’s internal affairs. Those countries that boast their democratic standards but have repeatedly ignored this important piece of international law are absolutely hypocritical.
The statement also misleads readers about the Sino-British Joint Declaration, claiming that China still has obligations to fulfill. This is just more British colonial nostalgia. In fact, the agreement is a historical document because all the provisions of the joint declaration have been fully implemented, and the United Kingdom has no supervisory authority over Hong Kong following the handover in 1997. Besides, the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group, which supervised the implementation of the agreement, also disbanded in 2000.
Perhaps we should show sympathy to the political leaders of major Western countries that need to keep playing the “Hong Kong Card” because they have their own difficulties at home.
According to the latest numbers from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation in the US climbed to its highest level in 40 years in January, with prices rising 7.5 percent from a year ago. And a poll conducted by Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that only 37 percent of Americans endorse US President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy.
The US will have a midterm election in November to select both the House representatives and 34 of the 100 Senators. Historically, the midterm elections generally go well for the party that is not in the White House. This time, it could be the Republicans, given the fact that Biden’s Democratic Party is not doing well with the economy and COVID-19 prevention.
For British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, police are still investigating a series of highly controversial parties held in government buildings, including his office at No 10 Downing Street, to assess whether they violated COVID-19 prevention rules. If evidence is not favorable to him, his resignation is the last straw.
Canada is also in hot water at home. The blockages triggered by truck drivers in Ottawa last month over vaccine mandates imposed by the federal government have spread to border bridges between Canada and the US, affecting greatly the trade between the two countries. The strikes have put the Trudeau administration in a Catch-22 situation, puzzling how to end the strikes in a “democratic way”. The US and other Western countries are on alert as similar strikes are gaining momentum at home.
So, with so many domestic problems themselves, the “Media Freedom Coalition” should keep its suggestions to itself and mind its own business.
The author is a member of the Hong Kong Association of Media Veterans and a freelance writer.