Hong Kong security chief slams Ming Pao reporter over question on unannounced Thailand trip
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s security chief has accused a Ming Pao reporter of attempting to undermine the credibility of the government after the journalist asked why the official did not announce his trip to Thailand.
Last Friday, Secretary for Security Chris Tang returned to Hong Kong from Thailand after coordinating a joint rescue operation of six Hong Kong residents from a scam farm in Myanmar.
The three men and three women rescued, aged between 29 and 44, had been illegally detained for between five and seven months. They returned to Hong Kong in two batches on Friday evening and Saturday.
Since last year, authorities have received a total of 28 reports of Hongkongers who claimed to be illegally detained in Southeast Asia. As of Saturday, 25 people had been rescued and returned to the city.
During a media briefing at the Hong Kong International Airport on Friday, a reporter from local newspaper Ming Pao asked Tang why his visit to Thailand and the acting official during his absence was not published on the gazette – the government notice – per usual practice.
In response, the security minister said the operation had to be conducted discreetly, and if not, it could jeopardise the rescue effort and endanger the lives of the detained Hongkongers.
The objective of the Hong Kong government was to save lives as quickly as possible, Tang said, adding human life “is the most important thing.”
“I don’t know if this Ming Pao reporter thinks that finding flaws in the government to undermine its credibility is their goal,” Tang said in Cantonese.
Gov’t complaints
Over the past two years, the Hong Kong government had lashed out at Ming Pao’s news report, opinion pieces and satirical cartoons. In January, the newspaper defended its journalism after the government described one of its reports on a cybersecurity bill as “biased and misleading.”
The Security Bureau also condemned Ming Pao for publishing a “misleading” opinion piece written by Lo Kin-hei, the chairperson of the Democratic Party, in July 2023. The op-ed took Tang’s comments on mental illness “out of context,” the government said.
Last August, Ming Pao urged its columnists to be “prudent” and “law-abiding” when penning for the newspaper, saying “crisis may come” if they were not compliant.
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