Hong Kong Watch co-hosts forum in London on Hong Kong’s press freedom

The forum on Hong Kong’s press freedom, co-organised by Hong Kong Watch and Reporters Without Borders, was held successfully at the Frontline Club in London on 11 July. The forum, entitled “Hong Kong’s press freedom decline: 25 Years on from the handover”, was chaired by Benedict Rogers, co-founder and Chief Executive of Hong Kong Watch. The speakers of the event included Stephen Vines, a British journalist and former RTHK presenter who lived in Hong Kong for 35 years, Azzurra Moores, the UK Campaign Officer of Reporters Without Borders, and Nathan Law, former Hong Kong Legislative Council member. They discussed the causes of the rapid breakdown of press freedom in Hong Kong.

In just 25 years since the Hong Kong Handover, the state of media freedom in Hong Kong has been almost completely dismantled. In 2002, Hong Kong was ranked 18th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index. However the most recent index has seen the city ranking plunge to 148th – a testament to the dismantling of the media landscape. From financial coercion to outright censorship, from police violence against reporters to police raids of newsrooms, from draconian legislation leading to the prosecution and imprisonment of journalists and the closure of publications to the weaponisation of visas for foreign correspondents, Hong Kong’s media freedoms have been rapidly and dramatically dismantled.

There was also an exhibition at the venue from exemplary photojournalist, James Wendlinger, who will showcase a private collection of images designed to reflect the changing media landscape in Hong Kong.