A conservative Christian NGO has issued a critique of the security minister’s latest salvo against a local press union, marking the second time it has made a rare public rebuke against the government in a month.
Choi Chi-sum, general secretary of the Society for Truth and Light, said in a Thursday Facebook post that the Hong Kong Journalists Association, which Secretary for Security Chris Tang had last week accused of holding a ‘black-box’ leadership election, was “struggling to survive.”
“When criticisms are raised claiming the HKJA is failing to mind its proper duties, we cannot help but ask: how did today’s situation come to be?” Choi said on Thursday.
“Is it that the quality of Hong Kong journalists is deteriorating, or that Hong Kong’s media ecosystem is continually degrading?” he asked.
“Are mainstream journalists no longer willing to defend the profession, or are media bosses, to protect their ‘business,’ forbidding employees from taking up roles that might offend those in power?”
On Wednesday, Lingua Sinica, an initiative by Taiwan-based China Media Project, published examples of what appeared to be a coordinated campaign in the state-backed press against the embattled press union.
Harassment campaigns
Last week, security chief Tang said that the union’s decision not to publicise its list of candidates ahead of last Saturday’s AGM amounted to a “black-box operation.” In a similar arrangement to last year, the HKJA has not shared the election candidates’ names amid years of harassment. It does not have a legal obligation to post officers’ names publicly.
HKJA chair Selina Cheng said that the decision was made due to harassment campaigns in recent years, adding that Hong Kong union law forbids any union from rejecting the participation of freelance, temporary or seasonal workers.
“Those who shout loudest do not necessarily have reason on their side, and those who dare not speak up are not necessarily in the wrong!” said Choi, who added in his post that he was a radio journalist for a decade.
“When journalists can barely protect themselves, society itself enters a dangerous time,” he said.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) also issued a four-sentence statement on Friday against the harassment campaigns faced by the union. “The FCC condemns any harassment and trolling of journalists and strives to support journalists in carrying out their duties,” it said.
“The HKJA is a non-profit organisation and a registered trade union that advocates press freedom and supports journalists and journalism in Hong Kong. Freedom of the press and the right to form and join trade unions are enshrined in the Hong Kong Basic Law.”
Earlier this month, the Society – often in the headlines for its anti-LGBTQ stance – said that the Hong Kong government’s refusal to release a list of banned books represented an “abuse of power” and undermined the rule of law, after authorities raided independent bookstores and arrested their staff last month.
“Citizens should not have to live in fear simply for expressing personal opinions or possessing publications that haven’t been ruled illegal by the courts,” Choi wrote in Chinese.
His statement came two weeks after staff at two independent bookshops, Have a Nice Stay and Greenfield Bookstore, were arrested under Hong Kong’s national security legislation.
Founded in 1997, the Society for Truth and Light is a conservative Christian group said to promote LGBTQ conversion therapy practices.
Cheng was re-elected as HKJA chair last Saturday.
With most of the city’s outspoken civil society groups having disbanded in the wake of the Beijing-imposed national security law in 2020, the Christian group’s statements are a rare public criticism of the government.
