Officials defend court ruling, highlight legal boundaries of media freedom
The central government offices and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government on Tuesday strongly rebuked an international media coalition’s criticism of the recent sedition conviction of two former news editors, calling the accusations “baseless” and “interference in Hong Kong’s judicial system”.
In late August, the District Court convicted now-defunct Stand News’ former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen, ex-acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam Shiu-tung, and the media outlet’s parent company, Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd, of conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications under the Criminal Ordinance.
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On Monday, the Media Freedom Coalition, comprising members from the US, the UK and France, said it was “gravely concerned about the guilty verdict” and alleged a “wider suppression of media freedom” in Hong Kong.
In response, a spokesperson for the Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry in the HKSAR dismissed the coalition’s claims, describing the group as a “political hatchet man” with a history of disparaging Hong Kong.
The spokesperson accused the coalition of conflating press freedom with “absolute freedom”, and ignoring journalists’ obligations to safeguard national security and maintain public order.
The office urged the coalition to stop making noise and meddling in Hong Kong SAR affairs and China’s internal affairs under the guise of press freedom.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Hong Kong SAR government reiterated that Hong Kong residents enjoy press and speech freedoms as protected by the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance.
However, a government spokesperson stressed that these rights and freedoms are not absolute, saying, “Journalists, like everyone else, have an obligation to abide by all the laws.”
The spokesperson added that media remain free to comment on and criticize the government’s performance within the bounds of the law.
The court’s verdict pointed out that Stand News had become a tool to “smear and vilify the central government and the HKSAR government” during the 2019 social unrest. The court found articles involved in the case attacked legislation, including the National Security Law for Hong Kong; spread anti-government sentiment through misinformation; and defamed police operations without regard for facts.
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Both the Commissioner’s Office and the SAR spokesperson pointed out the apparent hypocrisy and double standards in the coalition’s statement, noting that Western countries often take legal action against speeches involving disinformation, incitement of hatred, and glorification of violence within their own jurisdictions, sometimes resulting in harsh penalties.
The SAR government affirmed its commitment to safeguarding national security while protecting the lawful rights and liberties of Hong Kong residents.
The Commissioner’s Office noted that as of April, 628 foreign employees held work visas with foreign media outlets in Hong Kong, representing an 18.5 percent year-on-year increase. The office’s spokesperson said that fact demonstrates that Hong Kong’s freedom of speech remains well protected under the law, including the National Security Law for Hong Kong and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.
