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The FCC Notes the One-Year Anniversary of Haze Fan’s Detention

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong notes with concern that it has been one year since Haze Fan, a Chinese employee of Bloomberg News, was detained in Beijing on suspicion of national security law violations. To date, no information has been released about Fan’s whereabouts or her case. 

The FCC is reposting a joint statement to which it was a signatory released shortly after Fan’s detention. The FCC continues to urge Chinese authorities to release information about Fan’s detention.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Clubs and Associations of Japan, Hong Kong, Jakarta, the Philippines, South Asia, Taiwan and Thailand are very concerned to learn that Haze Fan, a Chinese employee working for Bloomberg News, has been detained in Beijing.

The FCCs stand by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China in its efforts to seek an explanation on why the Chinese authorities detained Fan.

The clubs also join together in expressing alarm at reports of deteriorating conditions for journalists working for international media in China.

Fan has worked with Bloomberg since 2017. Other outlets she worked for before include Al Jazeera, CBS News, CNBC, and Thomson Reuters.

She has been missing since Monday, December 7th. Bloomberg received confirmation of her arrest on ‘suspicion of engaging in activities that jeopardize national security’ only on Thursday.

Chinese nationals perform invaluable roles in support of foreign media in China. Without their work, it would be difficult for foreign media to operate in China, and their safety is a matter of the highest concern.

Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Jakarta
Foreign Correspondents’ Association of the Philippines
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia
Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand

Visa Denial for Sue-Lin Wong Underscores Rising Press Freedom Concerns

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong, is deeply concerned that another journalist, Sue-Lin Wong of The Economist, has been denied an employment visa in Hong Kong.

This follows the denial of visas for Victor Mallet of the Financial Times in 2018, Chris Buckley of the New York Times, and Aaron Mc Nicholas of the Hong Kong Free Press last year.

The decision by the Immigration Department not to extend Sue-Lin Wong’s visa, made without explanation, further highlights the concerns raised in the FCC’s survey of correspondent and journalist members on the state of press freedom in Hong Kong published on 5 November.

The survey clearly illustrated the deteriorating working environment for journalists in Hong Kong, with visa applications emerging as a major problem. In all, 24% of respondents said they had experienced slight delays or obstacles in obtaining visas, while 29% said they had experienced considerable obstacles or delays.

The FCC has previously urged the Immigration Department, in two letters published in 2020, to provide more clarity on its procedures for issuing journalists’ employment visas. So far, we have not received a satisfactory response.

We again call on the government to provide concrete assurances that applications for employment visas and visa extensions will be handled in a timely manner with clearly-stated requirements and procedures, and that the visa process for journalists will not be politicised or weaponised.

FCC Statement on the Sentencing of American Journalist Danny Fenster in Myanmar

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong is alarmed and deeply disturbed by the harsh sentence handed down today in Myanmar to American journalist Danny Fenster. Fenster, who at the time of his arrest in May was the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, was convicted by a court in Yangon on three charges and sentenced to 11 years in jail. The court imposed the harshest possible sentences for those charges, which include an immigration offense and a violation of the unlawful associations act. 

The FCC is additionally concerned about two more serious additional charges for which Fenster is yet to stand trial. 

Since taking power in February, Myanmar’s military harshly cracked down on the media and quickly rolled back the hard fought press freedom gains made over the past decade. The offices of media organizations have been raided by security forces. Some journalists have gone into hiding or fled the country, and of more than 100 arrested journalists, dozens remain in jail for their reporting on the rapidly deteriorating situation in the country. 

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club calls on Myanmar’s government to respect and uphold its stated commitment to press freedom, and to unconditionally release Fenster and other detained journalists.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Addresses FCC Press Freedom Survey

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin responded to a question concerning the FCC’s Press Freedom Survey during the ministry’s daily press briefing on Friday. In his comments, Mr. Wang offered details about the number of overseas employees holding work visas at foreign media outlets in Hong Kong, saying the figure has increased over the last year. 

Mr. Wang’s complete remarks about the Press Freedom Survey are posted below. The full transcript of the press briefing can be found here

Bloomberg: Foreign Correspondents’ Club Hong Kong put out a report this morning, saying that nearly half of their members are considering leaving and only about half of them said they understand where the Hong Kong government’s redlines on reporting were. What is your response to the report? Do you think the government of Hong Kong should be clearer about its redlines on reporting?

Wang Wenbin: I want to point out first that the legitimate rights and interests of foreign media and journalists in Hong Kong are fully protected as long as they abide by laws and produce reporting in accordance with laws and regulations.

With regard to what you mentioned, I would like to share some numbers with you. As of April 2021, there are 628 foreign employees holding work visas working with foreign media outlets in Hong Kong, which is an increase of 98 people or 18.5 percent year-on-year. These numbers don’t lie. They are a faithful reflection of the views on and perception of Hong Kong’s socioeconomic and reporting environment of people from all walks of life including the press sector.

During the past year, Bloomberg, the agency you work with, added 55 foreign employees alone. That speaks volumes. I would like to stress that since the promulgation and implementation of the Hong Kong national security law, Hong Kong people’s rights and freedoms have received better protection, and Hong Kong citizens, international investors and people working in various sectors have all witnessed a brand new Hong Kong and become more confident in its future.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong, Membership Survey on Press Freedom

In an effort to gauge the confidence of our members in the media environment in Hong Kong since the introduction of the National Security Law, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) has conducted a survey of correspondent and journalist members on a wide range of issues related to press freedom.

The results revealed widespread uncertainty among members over what the media is and is not allowed to report on since the implementation of the National Security Law in June 2020, and concern over the further erosion of press freedom with the possible introduction of a “fake news” law in Hong Kong. 

“This is the first time we’ve conducted a survey like this of our correspondent and journalist members,” FCC President Keith Richburg said. “There’s been a lot of talk and anecdotal evidence about concerns over the state of press freedom in Hong Kong, so we thought it would be helpful to try to quantify the extent of those concerns.”

The vast majority of respondents reported an overall deterioration in the working environment for journalists, noting in particular the unwillingness of sources to be quoted and the need for reporters to self-censor their writing or delete images. 

The survey was conducted from late August to late October 2021. While the FCC has numerous members working in non-media sectors, for this survey we chose only to contact the club’s correspondent and journalist members. We received 99 responses–70 from correspondent members (club members working for foreign media) and 29 from journalist members (those working for local media)–reflecting a response rate of about 25%. All responses were anonymous.

In terms of the general working environment for journalists, 84% said that the situation had deteriorated since the introduction of the National Security Law. While 15% said there had been no change, one respondent said the situation had actually changed for the better. 

One respondent said:

In many ways it has become worse than the mainland because nobody knows what the red lines are and there is real fear that previous coverage could be scrutinised. Self-censorship and the drying up of sources is another result of the NSL.

Another noted:

It has definitely changed for the worse. When I first arrived, Hong Kong was a much freer society — people were open to speaking, no topic within reason was off limits, and there were no real concerns about what we could publish or whether we could protect sources who spoke to us. Now, many people are reluctant or refuse to talk on sensitive subjects, and our organization — especially after the raids on Apple Daily — is much more cautious about data security and the ability to protect sources.

A total of 86% of respondents said sources were now less willing to talk about sensitive issues, while 14% reported no change. One respondent revealed:

Many of my sources are now in jail. Some have fled abroad. Others now refuse to comment to foreign media, based on advice from their lawyers or out of — very justifiable — fear that speaking to a foreign journalist could aid a prosecutor’s case against them under the National Security Law. Many people, even those abroad who might have family in Hong Kong, are now insisting on anonymity. 

Another stated simply:

Fallen off a cliff. Former sources happy to go on the record now are only off the record or won’t talk at all.

However, another respondent countered:

I think sources are still happy to talk. They might say something is a “bit political” when talking but I haven’t noticed people holding back.

A smaller, but still significant, number of members said they were self-censoring or had experienced censorship within their organization. Asked “To what extent have you self-censored your writing, either in content or by simply avoiding covering certain subjects?” 44% replied not at all, 40% said they had slightly self-censored, and 16% had self-censored to a considerable degree. 

One respondent said: 

There are certainly some topics that we would now have to think long and hard about covering in any detail, in particular anything to do with independence. We would also now consider publishing some of our coverage with a non-Hong Kong dateline to avoid potential legal/political jeopardy for colleagues based in the city. But otherwise we soldier on and do our job of reporting the news without fear or favour.

The majority of respondents, 56%, said they had not experienced any overt censorship by their news organization in the coverage of sensitive issues, 36% said they had seen slight censorship, while 8% had experienced considerable censorship. One respondent noted that “management doesn’t ‘officially’ discourage coverage of sensitive areas but makes it very difficult to do so.”

One member pointed out:

Censorship is a loaded word. Clearly, the NSL is something we need to take seriously and it has affected how we approach the news and express our opinions. We don’t want to break the law. At the same time, I don’t feel I have been prevented from saying what I want to about the NSL and about how Hong Kong has changed since its enactment.

One of the most significant results of the survey was the uncertainty among our members over what is and what is not a “sensitive subject” in the wake of the National Security Law. Around half of the respondents, 48%, said they were unclear about exactly where the red lines were in reporting sensitive issues. Other respondents were more confident in defining the red lines but significantly gave different responses: Some highlighted Hong Kong independence, while others focused on mainland China issues or more generally Tibet, Xinjiang and Taiwan. 

To illustrate the uncertainty, one respondent said:

When a nurse said that one of her patients didn’t want to get the Covid vaccine in China because she didn’t think the Chinese vaccines are very good, and decided to come back to Hong Kong where she could get the BioNTech shot, I got an editor’s comment “Do you think this is a bit too political?” 

In terms of sensitive images, 48% of respondents said they were not confident in knowing what is permitted when it comes to taking photos or videos of sensitive subjects, 33% were somewhat confident, and only 19% said they were confident in knowing what images were acceptable:

I have the feeling that journalists are allowed to shoot public events even if they contain banners or slogans that breach the NSL. Likewise, media can publish them. But that can change in a second.

Many respondents agreed that the definition of what is considered sensitive is shifting all the time, thereby forcing them to exercise a greater degree of caution.

The definition of what is sensitive has broadened from the specifically political to encompass the work of civil society, the media, trade union and cultural organizations. There is no indication that this widening process is about to stop.

Going forward, there is widespread concern among the FCC’s correspondent and journalist members over the Hong Kong government’s proposal to enact a “fake news” law. In all, 76% of respondents said they were “very concerned” about the introduction of a fake news law, 15% were slightly concerned, 6% were not aware of the issue, and 3% were not concerned about the legislation. 

Several respondents noted that “fake news” laws have been created by authoritarian governments to suppress unfavourable coverage. Others said there are signs that Hong Kong authorities are willing to label anything they do not like as “fake news.” For example:

It’s already clear to me that officials in high office in Hong Kong believe that “fake news” is a label they can apply to news or commentary that they don’t like, regardless of whether it is “fake,” and that a fake news law could be used broadly against critics in the same way that they have used the National Security Law. 

Other respondents, while noting the risk of abuse by the authorities, cautioned that journalists still had a responsibility to verify information before publication and avoid over-sensationalizing issues.

The media has tremendous responsibilities, and we must be abiding by our code of conduct to stay neutral. Press Freedom does not mean that someone has the freedom to make up stories that are not facts. I am saddened by how the media has deteriorated to become storytellers instead of news reporters

The survey revealed considerable uncertainty among FCC correspondent and journalist members about the future. A significant majority of respondents said they were concerned about the possibility of arrest or prosecution from reporting or writing opinion articles – 61% were slightly concerned, 10% were very concerned, while 29% said they were not concerned about arrest or prosecution. 

I’ve published extensively and it’s ‘out there’ on the net. But with laws constantly changing and applying to old works and deeds, if someone needs a flimsy excuse to ‘get me’, they’ll probably pull up some old work that was acceptable debate/opinion when it was published and now an excuse to prosecute. 

A total of 77% of respondents said they were concerned about the possibility of digital or physical surveillance, while another 12% said they had already directly experienced surveillance. 37% of respondents had deleted images, either online or one their devices, because of security concerns, and a smaller number of reporters said they had experienced interference, harassment or violence while reporting. 15% had experienced minor interference and 7% said they had encountered significant harassment or interference.

Many correspondent and journalist members have the right to permanent residency in Hong Kong and so are not directly affected by employment visa issues. That said, 29% of respondents reported that they personally, or others in their news organization, had experienced considerable delays or obstacles in obtaining employment visas or visa renewals. Another 24% said they had experienced slight delays.

Finally, we asked members if they were planning on or considering leaving Hong Kong because of concerns over press freedom. About 34% said they were considering leaving, and 12% already had plans to do so. The remaining 54% said they planned to stay. One typical response noted:

The rapidly deteriorating political environment in Hong Kong has made me consider cutting short my stay in the city. While we’re not planning an imminent departure by any means, myself and several others I know are reconsidering previous plans to stay in Hong Kong over a longer time frame, given the city we arrived in was very different than the city we currently live in. Everyone has different limits on what they will tolerate. 

Richburg, the FCC’s president, added: “We would like to conduct this kind of survey on a regular, recurring basis so we can continue to gauge the sentiment among our members who are working actively as journalists and let the results be made publicly available. We hope this survey, and any future ones, can help contribute to the ongoing discussion about the state of press freedom in Hong Kong.”

The FCC is grateful to all those members who took the time to respond to our survey.

FCC Congratulates Ressa, Muratov for Nobel Peace Prize

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong congratulates journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov for winning the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, awarded ”for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”

The FCC applauds the Nobel Committee for its recognition of two courageous and deserving journalists, and for the message in defense of press freedom that the award sends.

Ressa, 58, is the co-founder and chief executive of Rappler, a digital news outlet in the Philippines. She has spoken at the FCC on several occasions, and is a tireless advocate of the free press and efforts to combat misinformation across the region and beyond. Links to her speeches and events at the club can be found below.

https://www.fcchk.org/fake-news-authoritarian-regimes-and-women-in-journalism-the-fccs-3rd-journalism-conference-leaves-no-stone-unturned/

https://humanrightspressawards.org/4756.html

HKJA Statement Responding to Security Secretary

The FCC has been following with concern remarks by the Secretary for Security regarding the Hong Kong Journalists Association, the city’s largest union for working journalists. The secretary’s remarks questioned the details of HKJA’s membership rolls. The HKJA has responded to the secretary’s remarks with the following statement, which the FCC is republishing. The FCC expresses its support for all working journalists during an increasingly challenging time in Hong Kong’s media environment:

In response to media enquiries about our membership and the Secretary for Security’s comments on Wednesday, the HKJA would like to make the following comments:

As of 15 September 2021 at 2pm, HKJA has 486 current members. They include 331 full members, 22 associate members, 34 public relations members, 56 student members, and 43 retired or permanent members. The numbers of our membership fluctuate as the Association processes new applications and renewals daily.

In response to media enquiries on the number of our members employed by specific media outlets, we would like to note that our members come from a large number of media organisations. Each individual membership lasts one year and members are required to renew their membership by the end of the year. If the media outlet where a member works has closed down, or if the member has left the media industry, they will not be able to renew their membership. The details on membership eligibility are available on our website’s membership application section, and are stated in our charter.

Meanwhile, Secretary for Security Chris Tang today said HKJA may “assuage the public’s doubts” by publishing our membership list “without disclosing personal information.” We are baffled by the Secretary’s apparently illogical suggestion. HKJA hopes the Secretary could understand that our members’ employment is part of their personal information. We are therefore unable to decipher how we could possibly make public the media outlets where our members are employed, without also disclosing their personal data at the same time.

We would like to reiterate that under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, HKJA may not disclose members’ personal data without their expressed consent. Any suggestion to make our membership and their employers public in order to “assuage doubts” would appear to incite a breach of the Ordinance.

Hong Kong Journalists Association
15 September 2021

就傳媒查詢有關本會會員事務,及保安局局長的言論,本會有回覆如下:

截至2021年9月15日下午2時,本會有效會員共有486人,其中包括正式會員331人、附屬會員22人、公關會員34人,學生會員56人,另有退休會員及永久會員共43人。而本會每日均會處理續會、入會申請的事務,會員人數會不時變更,敬希注意。

就有傳媒查詢,個別傳媒機構在本會內的會員人數,本會會員來自多間傳媒機構,會籍有效期為一年,會員需要每年續會。如會員所任職的傳媒機構已經停業、或會員已經離開傳媒行業,則不能續會。有關本會的會員資格,可參閱本會網頁的會員申請須知及會章。

另外,就保安局局長鄧炳強今日表示,本會可在「撇除個人資料」下公布會員名單,以「釋除疑慮」。本會認為鄧炳強的建議邏輯混亂,令人百思不得其解。本會希望局長明白,會員所任職的傳媒機構,亦為其「個人資料」一部分,本會實在無法推敲出,如何在「撇除個人資料」下,公布會員「來自乜嘢媒體」。

本會亦在此重申,根據《個人資料(私隱)條例》規定,未經當事人同意,本會不能披露會員個人資料。若要求本會應公開會員名單或其所屬機構「以釋公眾疑慮」,實在有鼓吹本會違反《私隱條例》之嫌。

香港記者協會
2021年9月15日

FCC Expresses Deep Regret Over Closure of Apple Daily

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong wishes to express its deep regret at the announcement of the closure of Apple Daily.

Apple Daily has been a vibrant member of the Hong Kong media landscape for more than quarter of a century and a widely read source of information for many in the city.

The closure is a blow to the journalism community in Hong Kong and raises legitimate concerns over the future of press freedom in the city. It comes after government authorities froze its assets and arrested several top editors. 

The closure also has a major social impact and will leave hundreds of journalists, editorial production staff and other employees involved in the publication and distribution of the newspaper unemployed. 

The FCC calls on the Hong Kong media community to provide assistance for those now left jobless with the closure in finding new employment.

FCC Statement on Arrests and Search Involving Apple Daily

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong is concerned over the arrest of five Apple Daily executives, including its editor-in-chief Ryan Law and deputy chief editor.

According to the Hong Kong police and media reports, the five were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under the National Security Law and were undergoing questioning.

The FCC notes that the Hong Kong police’s search of the Apple Daily premises took place under a warrant “covering the power of searching and seizure of journalistic materials.” Press reports indicate that police searched journalists’ notes and files and accessed their computers.

We are not pronouncing on the legalities of the situation or today’s actions. However the Foreign Correspondents’ Club is concerned that this latest action will serve to intimidate independent media in Hong Kong and will cast a chill over the free press, protected under the Basic Law.

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