Govt Drops RTHK For July 1 Flag Raising Ceremony

The government confirmed on Saturday that public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong has been dropped from producing this year's July 1 flag raising ceremony, with commercial station TVB taking over instead.

RTHK, the government department which usually produces the event, said it would only be providing a live feed of the proceedings for other media outlets this year.

"RTHK was not invited to participate in the production of the flag raising ceremony and the reception on July 1, but we will provide the pool feed as usual," said station spokeswoman Amen Ng.

The government explained that the flag raising ceremony is part of a bigger series of events to mark the 30th anniversary of the promulgation of the Basic Law and TVB was the broadcaster chosen to produce programmes on this series.

A spokesperson said RTHK was informed of the arrangements by the Home Affairs Department on June 5.

The move comes after the government decided to set up a team to review the public broadcaster's governance and management following a series of controversies involving the station's coverage of the city's unrest.

The broadcaster has been given a number of warnings in recent weeks by the Communications Authority following complaints about the way its shows have portrayed the city's police force.

The authority found RTHK had allowed members of the public to air opinions that were "not based on fact" and that jokes made in the now suspended satirical show Headliner were not "factually accurate".

RTHK's board of advisers, meanwhile, demanded recently that the station provide "positive" coverage of the new national security law Beijing is poised to impose on the SAR.