• 11/26/2024

Hong Kong’s Ming Pao newspaper urges columnists to be ‘prudent’ and ‘law-abiding,’ or else ‘crisis may come’

Hong Kong Free Press

Ming Pao. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

The chief editor of Hong Kong’s Ming Pao has urged columnists to be “prudent” and “law-abiding” when writing for the newspaper, warning that if they were not, “crisis may come.”

Ming Pao. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Ming Pao. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Barrister and Ming Pao columnist Senia Ng on Thursday posted a note sent by chief editor Lau Chung-yung on social media. “For Ming Pao to conduct itself and its mission in Hong Kong’s new era, as well as to exercise the role of the fourth estate, is a heavy responsibility and a long path that requires extra caution,” the Chinese memo read.

Two sources confirmed to HKFP that they had also received the note from Lau, who also wrote: “[We] sincerely plead for your help to be more prudent when commenting on current affairs from now on.”

“Comments must be based on accurate facts. They should be law-abiding and measured. Otherwise it is difficult to say whether one day crisis may come,” Lau continued.

“Words cannot fully express my ideas. I hope everyone will continue to bear with us, as you always have.”

A note dated August 15, 2024, sent by Ming Pao's chief editor Lau Chung-yung to columnists, urging prudence in writing. Photo: Senia Ng via Instagram.
A note dated August 15, 2024, sent by Ming Pao’s chief editor Lau Chung-yung to columnists, urging prudence in writing. Photo: Senia Ng via Instagram.

Ming Pao has not yet responded to HKFP’s request for comment.

The message came days after security chief Chris Tang made reference to overseas columnists who he said had “deliberately misinterpreted government policies or official speeches and misled readers.”

“If [the media] condones such writers and their biased essays, it will have corrupted society and created divisions,” Tang said in Cantonese during an event organised by newsweekly Yazhou Zhoukan, which is owned by Ming Pao’s parent company Media Chinese International Limited.

“By simply placing a remark beneath the column saying it did not intend to incite hatred of the government does not waive an editors’ responsibility to ensure the publication is fair, objective, and unbiased,” Tang added.

Tang did not name any publications or columnists in his speech.

Disclaimer

Ming Pao was among several media outlets to place a disclaimer in its op-ed section after two outlets, Apple Daily and Stand News, were raided and prosecuted in 2021 over alleged sedition. Introduced in early 2022, it reads: “If a commentary published by this newspaper raises criticism, it is meant to point out mistakes or flaws in the system, policy, or measure.”

“The purpose is to facilitate the correction or elimination of such mistakes or flaws … there is absolutely no intention to incite hatred, disaffection or enmity against the government or other communities,” the Chinese disclaimer continues.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang
Secretary for Security Chris Tang meeting the press on September 27, 2023. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Last month, a Ming Pao op-ed was slammed by the government for being “unfounded and misleading.” Written by legal scholar Johannes Chan, it argued that recent legislation denying national security offenders early release from prison may infringe on inmates’ human rights.

The Correctional Services Department said Chan’s essay was “factually inaccurate,” as early release “has never been a guaranteed right of [prisoners] under the laws of Hong Kong.”

Chan’s essay “misled readers to believe that if a [prisoner] is not granted remission … it would be tantamount to receiving a heavier sentence and a breach of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights,” the department said in a statement.

Chan, the former dean of the University of Hong Kong’s law faculty, is currently based in the UK. He was a regular contributor to a Ming Pao column on legal issues but has yet to publish an op-ed in the paper since the Correctional Services Department’s criticism.

Zunzi's comic strip on Ming Pao published on May 11, 2023.
Zunzi’s comic strip on Ming Pao published on May 11, 2023. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Last May, Ming Pao suspended the comic strip of prominent political cartoonist Wong Kei-kwan, better known as “Zunzi,” who had been publishing satirical takes on current affairs and public policies in the city since 1983 in the newspaper.

The move came multiple officials, including chief secretary Eric Chan, Tang, and home and youth affairs chief Alice Mak, condemned Zunzi’s satires.

Press freedom

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.

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https://hongkongfp.com/2024/08/16/hong-kongs-ming-pao-newspaper-urges-columnists-to-be-prudent-and-law-abiding-or-else-crisis-may-come/