HK Enjoys Press Freedom Despite Expulsion Row: Govt

The Hong Kong government on Wednesday responded to Beijing’s decision to expel at least 13 American journalists from the country – including the SAR – by stating that Hong Kong “enjoys press freedom” while repeating the Foreign Ministry’s defence of the highly controversial move.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that the countermeasures were to reciprocate the United States Government's unwarranted restrictions on the Chinese media agencies and personnel in the US”, a government spokesman said in a statement.

However, the statement did not directly address concerns raised by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, or its demand for an official assurance to overseas journalists here that they won’t be kicked out on Beijing’s command.

“Hong Kong enjoys press freedom”, the statement read. “The HKSAR Government has been facilitating media organisations and journalists from other countries to cover news in Hong Kong.”

“This policy is in compliance with the Basic Law and the "One Country, Two Systems" principle”, it added.

The statement left vague the status of foreign journalists working here, saying the Immigration Department will consider the circumstances of each individual case and act in accordance with the law.

“Hong Kong has always adopted a pragmatic and open policy on the employment of professionals in Hong Kong, allowing those possessing special skills, knowledge or experience of value to and not readily available locally to work in Hong Kong, including journalistic work”, the spokesman added.

In an apparent tit-for-tat exchange, Beijing ordered a number of journalists from the The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The New York Times to leave the country, also banning them from working in Hong Kong and Macau.

This comes after Washington reduced the number of Chinese nationals allowed to work for its state-run media on American soil.

Pan-democratic politicians say the move represents a gross interference in local affairs; undermines Hong Kong’s status as an international financial hub, and sounds the death knell for One Country Two Systems principle. But pro-government legislators said this was a foreign affairs matter that has nothing to do with press freedoms here.

This is not the first time the Hong Kong government has got caught up in a row over the work of foreign journalists..

It had been heavily criticised for effectively expelling senior Financial Times journalist Victor Mallet by refusing to renew his visa in 2018, months after he hosted a controversial talk at the FCC with pro-independence figure Chan Ho-tin.