Beijing Lashes Out At FCC Over Ronson Chan's Arrest

The Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused the Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC) in Hong Kong of making use of every opportunity it gets to attack the government and support anti-China forces, after it expressed concern over the arrest of the head of the Journalists Association.

Ronson Chan was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of disorderly conduct in a public place and obstructing police officers while he was reporting on a meeting of public housing flat owners for Channel C, an online news outlet he works for.

The police alleged that Chan refused to show officers his ID card and behaved in an "uncooperative" way despite multiple warnings. He was later released on bail and told to report to police later this month.

In a statement, the Commissioner’s Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong said it strongly disapproved of and firmly rejected what it described as a move by the FCC and Western anti-China politicians to "slander the actions taken by the Hong Kong police towards certain members of the Hong Kong Journalists Association".

A spokesman for the commissioner's office said there is no absolute press freedom anywhere in the world and all journalists in Hong Kong must abide by the law.

"The identity of a journalist doesn't mean they have amnesty or enjoy immunity for whatever they do," the spokesman said, adding that they shouldn't engage in activities that undermine Hong Kong's stability in the name of journalism.

"The FCC and some Western politicians ignored the facts and took every opportunity to attack the SAR government and supported anti-China forces in Hong Kong, which fully exposed their intention of meddling with the rule of law in the SAR and disrupting Hong Kong in the name of press freedom. Their tricks will bite the dust."

The FCC had urged the authorities to exercise transparency and care in handling Chan's case, and pointed out that the government has repeatedly told the public that press freedom and free speech are not at risk.