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Normally at this time of year, Hong Kong media would have been bustling to prepare coverage of yesterday’s anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre that, before COVID-19 restrictions hit, usually included a huge vigil in Victoria Park. The event is illegal in China, but had been proudly held in Hong Kong for decades.
This year, journalists at the respected public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) said they had been told to stand down.
“We were informed that no political story is allowed,” said Emily, an RTHK employee who, along with others interviewed for this article (Ann and Andy, mentioned later), asked
For the second consecutive year, Hong Kongers have been prohibited from holding a candlelit vigil in Victoria Park this evening on the grounds of COVID-19 “health concerns.” Held annually, the vigil remembers victims of the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square Massacre, when peaceful democracy protesters were peppered with bullets and mowed down by armored personnel carriers in Beijing.
Prior to last year’s ban also ostensibly due to COVID-19 safety concerns Hong Kongers had held the vigil for three decades without interruption. Although some ignored last year’s ban and converged on Victoria Park, attendance was significantly lower than in previous
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With ironic timing, the management at Hong Kong’s public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) chose May 3 – World Press Freedom Day – to initiate a spate of actions that flew in the face of the service’s mission of providing impartial news coverage and a platform for free expression. Staff began deleting all episodes of past shows that were more than one year old from Facebook and YouTube, including several award-winning investigative programs that had garnered over a million views. The station then refused to renew the contract of journalist Nabela Qoser, effectively firing a reporter who had gained prominence for her tough questioning of local officials. The moves came just days after top executives axed a documentary – months in the making – that highlighted the hard-hitting journalism and innovative business model of the digital news outlets Hong Kong Free Press and Citizen News.