RTHK Reports Hurt Hong Kong, Says Police Group Chief

The head of the territory's biggest police association on Tuesday lashed out at RTHK for what he said was misleading coverage of last weekend's lockdown in Jordan, accusing the public broadcaster of harming the territory.

Pro-Beijing figures had already criticised the station over a report which said a journalist caught up in the lockdown while staying at a hostel was not given a can opener or cooking implements in order to make use of a government food package.

Photos from residents in the area showed that at least some of the tins had ring pulls and didn't require a can opener.

On Tuesday, the chairman of the Junior Police Officers' Association, Lam Chi-wai, joined the criticism, saying RTHK has embarked on a political smearing campaign and has "hurt Hong Kong" by suggesting the government's arrangements had not been good enough.

"After all, it was the residents in the district that the government primarily had to take care of. Their homes should have can openers and cooking tools. The government's emergency support was sufficient and considerate. The reporter was making a fuss," Lam said.

In an open letter to members, he wrote that the police had also been subjected to unfair criticism during the social unrest in 2019, which he referred to as "black violence".

"It makes me recall during the 'black violence', individual media used similar sensational reporting to smear the police's operation," Lam said.

He said a publicly funded broadcaster should work with the government to disseminate positive and accurate anti-epidemic information, adding that "hurting Hong Kong" should never be the work or objective of such organisations.

Former chief executive CY Leung also weighed into the row, uploading on his Facebook page an upside down picture containing the Chinese and English names of RTHK, in an apparent bid to mock the broadcaster.

On Monday, RTHK issued a statement "severely condemning" what it said was a smear campaign against the station, insisting it only reports the facts.

Meanwhile, the official government Facebook page, Tamar Talk, confirmed that 20 percent of the canned foods distributed to residents in Jordan were without ring pulls and therefore required a tin opener.

In a statement, the Hong Kong Journalists Association says attacks on the public broadcaster are irresponsible and ignore the facts. It called on people to stop what it called "political smearing", saying any malicious attacks will hurt freedoms of the press and speech.