Over 330 sign union petition urging Wall Street Journal to reinstate head of Hong Kong press group Selina Cheng
Hong Kong Free Press
The staff union of The Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) parent company has collected 330 signatures for a petition urging the reinstatement of Hong Kong reporter Selina Cheng, who was fired weeks after being elected chair of the city’s embattled Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA).
The Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees (IAPE) delivered a letter addressed to WSJ’s Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker last Friday, urging the American newspaper to restore Cheng to her former position and provide a “full explanation” for its decision to dismiss her.
In the letter, the union president Jodi Green said Cheng was told she was laid off because of restructuring, but that she believed that the “real reason” was her election as the HKJA chief. Cheng had claimed that her WSJ supervisor said the newspaper staff should not be advocating for press freedom in places like Hong Kong. If true, this behaviour was “unconscionable,” the letter read.
IAPE said on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday that the petition had 335 signatories, adding that the union looked forward to the company’s response.
“The Wall Street Journal should fight for press freedom and stand with journalists, as it did by fighting the unjust imprisonment of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich in Russia,” IAPE wrote, referring to the journalist who was detained in Russia for over a year before being freed earlier this month.
A ‘basic’ right
On Monday, Cheng thanked her supporters on X and said she was “so grateful” for the more than 300 signatures on the petition. She said she hoped the newspaper would respond.
“The press is stronger when their reporters can join unions. The right to unionise is a basic human right,” the HKJA chief wrote.
In Hong Kong, the Employment Ordinance protects employees from being dismissed for trade union membership and activities. Article 27 of the Basic Law also stipulates that Hong Kong people have the freedom to form and join trade unions.
Earlier this month, Cheng said in a newsletter to HKJA members that the press group would continue to strive for the rights of journalists and press freedom.
Scores of reporters from local and international media outlets filmed Cheng leave the US newspaper’s office at Wan Chai’s Central Plaza last month, hours after she was told she would be let go. In the newsletter, Cheng wrote that she held a press conference immediately after she was fired because she wanted to show journalists in Hong Kong that the press union chief would defend her own rights.
Cheng’s dismissal made international headlines as WSJ came under fire by various journalist groups and press freedom NGOs. The US-based Society of Professional Journalists said last month that the firing of Cheng sent a “chilling message” to people who were “attempting to resist encroachments on press freedom in Hong Kong.”
The HKJA has been accused by authorities of smearing the police force, allowing “fake journalists” to join, and protecting pro-democracy protesters. One day before the group’s annual general meeting 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.
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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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