Wall St Journal union urges paper to reinstate head of Hong Kong journalists’ group Selina Cheng amid outcry
Hong Kong Free Press
The staff union of The Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) parent company has urged management to reinstate Selina Cheng, a reporter who was fired weeks after she was elected chair of the city’s embattled Hong Kong Journalist Association (HKJA).
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees said that the American paper’s management should “provide a full explanation” for its decision, and that it “supports calls for Selina to be restored to her WSJ position.”
A spokesperson from Dow Jones, the newspaper’s parent company, told HKFP that the company had made some personnel changes on Wednesday, but that it would not comment on specific cases.
Cheng told HKFP no other staff were fired in Hong Kong this week. According to Hong Kong’s Employment Ordinance, employees cannot be dismissed for trade union membership and activities, whilst Article 27 of the Basic Law states that Hongkongers have the “freedom to form and join trade unions.”
Full statement from HKJA Chairperson Selina Cheng – click to view.
This morning I was fired from the Wall Street Journal.
I am appalled that the first press conference I am giving as HKJA’s new chair, is to announce that I was fired for taking up this position in a press union.
Around three weeks ago, after senior editors at the newspaper found out I was running to be HKJA chairperson, my supervisor in the UK directed me to withdraw from the election. She also asked me to quit the board – which I have served on since 2021 – even though the Wall Street Journal approved this when I was hired. This was the day before our election.
I declined her requests, and was immediately told it would be incompatible with my job.
The editor said employees of the Journal should not be seen as advocating for press freedom in a place like Hong Kong, even though they can in Western countries, where it is already established. She acknowledged that Hong Kong’s press freedom is coming under severe challenges. She said the Journal continues to report on incidents related to press freedom in the city, such as trials against the press, so having its employees advocating for it would create a conflict.
The Wall Street Journal’s management is not naive to threats against the press worldwide. My colleague, reporter Evan Gershkovich, has been unlawfully detained in Russia for more than a year. I commend the Journal’s continued efforts to support him and to secure his release in a hostile press environment.
This is why I am deeply shocked that senior editors at the paper would actively violate their employees’ human rights, by preventing them from advocating for freedoms the Journal’s reporters rely on to work, in a place where journalists and their rights are under threat.
HKJA is a union for the press in Hong Kong. We advocate for the rights and interests of reporters in the city. This includes press freedom, because it is fundamental to our ability to work, it is also a human right, and one guaranteed by Hong Kong’s Basic Law. The necessity for journalists to uphold and defend press freedom is not relative to where we are in the world.
I believe all reporters understand this. Many of my colleagues at the Journal, in Hong Kong and abroad, have sent me their support and solidarity for stepping up to head the HKJA.
It is obvious to me that the fear and unease the press in Hong Kong have been facing for years now has equally affected the Journal’s management, even though they’re far away on different continents.
I am disappointed if these editors abroad have come to think press freedom is a controversial issue, as those who wish to intimidate reporters might like us to believe. It is not.
I was officially terminated today. The chief editor of the Wall Street Journal’s foreign desk, Gordon Fairclough, who is based in the UK, came to Hong Kong to deliver the message to me in person. He said my job has been eliminated due to restructuring.
Most of my reporter colleagues in Hong Kong were laid off in early May for the same reason. But I was kept on board. Following the layoffs, our editor in chief highlighted the Chinese EV industry, my reporting area, as one of the biggest stories to focus on in Asia.
I reminded my editors that becoming an officer of a union is legally protected in Hong Kong. The right for people in Hong Kong to form and join a union is enshrined in the Basic Law’s Article 27, the very same article that guarantees the right to a free press.
Several others on the HKJA board resigned earlier, also due to pressure from employers. I fully understand why they have done so, as they were worried about exactly the same outcome I am now facing.
Preventing employees from becoming an officer or member of a union, or penalizing them for doing so, would violate the Employment Ordinance. It can lead to a penalty of up to HKD 100,000 based on the Criminal Procedures Ordinance. This would leave a criminal record on both the Journal and the individual acting on behalf of the Journal.
On Wednesday, Cheng hosted a press conference after being fired, saying she had been dismissed for taking up the position of HKJA chairperson. The city’s largest media union, founded in 1968, has seen increasing pressure from authorities.
“Around three weeks ago, after senior editors at the newspaper found out I was running to be HKJA’s chairperson, my supervisor in the UK directed me to withdraw from the election,” she said. “She also asked me to quit the board [of the HKJA], which I have served on since 2021, even though The Wall Street Journal approved this when I was hired.”
Press groups slam WSJ
Cheng’s dismissal hit the headlines internationally, with press freedom NGOs such as Reporters Without Borders, advocacy groups such as the UK-based Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor, and US-government agency the Congressional-Executive Commission on China expressing concern.
On Thursday, president of the US-based Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins said in a statement that Cheng’s dismissal was at odds with the Journal’s campaign to support one of its reporters imprisoned in Russia.
“The firing of Cheng sends a chilling message to all those attempting to resist encroachments on press freedom in Hong Kong. This move is especially unfortunate at a time when press freedom advocates in the United States and elsewhere are fighting to help Cheng’s fellow WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich withstand his unjust imprisonment in Russia and regain his freedom,” SPJ said.
Meanwhile, the head of the UK’s National Union of Journalists Michelle Stanistreet said that the incident was “shocking” and contradicted the newspaper’s claims to support press freedom.
And, in Beijing, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China said in a statement on Thursday that it was “deeply concerned about a growing trend among employers of foreign media professionals in China to discourage them from actively engaging with journalists’ organizations.”
‘Deeply saddened’
‘Code of silence’
On Friday, China Media Project cited sources saying that Cheng’s situation was not unique, and other outlets had pressured staff not to join the HKJA or Foreign Correspondents’ Club’s (FCC) management. “[T]he biggest names in Hong Kong and China’s foreign press have been pressuring their employees to stand back and stay quiet, or face the repercussions,” Ryan Kilpatrick reported.
Eric Wishart, former president of the FCC told the China Media Project: “I can attest to the fact that several international media organisations in Hong Kong have barred their journalists from standing for club president over the years… I know of several good potential candidates who were told by their management that they could not run – that’s why the election for president is often uncontested due to a lack of candidates.”
Earlier this year, the FCC loosened its rules to allow journalists at the local South China Morning Post (SCMP) and HKFP to head the club, according to a notice seen by HKFP. It meant Lee Williamson, now working at the SCMP, was allowed to remain on as president when he took on the new role.
Embattled union
The HKJA has been accused by authorities of smearing the police force, allowing “fake journalists” to join, and protecting protesters. One day prior to the group’s AGM on June 22, Secretary for Security Chris Tang claimed the HKJA did not represent the news media industry – despite being the largest press union – as it lacked candidates from local mainstream outlets.
Hong Kong has plummeted in international press freedom indices since the onset of the security law. Watchdogs cite the arrest of journalists, raids on newsrooms and the closure of around 10 media outlets including Apple Daily, Stand News and Citizen News. Over 1,000 journalists have lost their jobs, whilst many have emigrated. Meanwhile, the city’s government-funded broadcaster RTHK has adopted new editorial guidelines, purged its archives and axed news and satirical shows.
See also: Explainer: Hong Kong’s press freedom under the national security law
In 2022, Chief Executive John Lee said press freedom was “in the pocket” of Hongkongers but “nobody is above the law.” Although he has told the press to “tell a good Hong Kong story,” government departments have been reluctant to respond to story pitches.
All HKFP staff are members of the HKJA, and Hans Tse is a member of the 2024-25 Executive Committee.
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