Chinese flags outside The Foreign Correspondents' Club in Hong Kong during a protest in August 2018.
Photo: alex hofford/epa-efe/rex/shutter/EPA/ShutterstockHONG KONG—The Chinese government’s move to ban more than a dozen journalists expelled from the mainland from reporting in Hong Kong heightened concerns about a further erosion of the city’s relative autonomy.
Protests that rocked the city last year and sent it spiraling into recession were fueled by widespread public anger at signs of Beijing restricting freedoms in the city. Chinese leaders guaranteed Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy until 2047 under a 50-year agreement called “one country, two systems” with the former colonial power, the U.K.
Chinese authorities said they would be revoking the press credentials for American journalists working for The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post, effectively expelling them from the country. Beijing said it was retaliation for restrictions placed by the Trump administration on the number of Chinese journalists working in the U.S.
In an unusual move, China’s Foreign Ministry stipulated that the expelled foreign correspondents wouldn’t be allowed to continue reporting in the Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions. Previously, some journalists expelled from the mainland have relocated and worked in Hong Kong.
The action struck at the city government’s right to control its own immigration policy, an encroachment that could affect the reputation of the business and financial hub. The announcement may further dent confidence in the rule of law in Hong Kong, especially among foreign investors who expressed alarm in 2018 when a foreign correspondent was expelled from the city for the first time.
The expulsions were a “necessary and reciprocal countermeasure China is compelled to take in response to the U.S. oppression of Chinese media,” a spokesperson for China’s Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong said Wednesday, adding that it was in accordance with Beijing’s purview over foreign affairs in accordance with ‘one country, two systems’ and the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution.
Under the Basic Law, immigration, including the power to permit or prohibit working, are exclusively matters for the Hong Kong government, said Sharron Fast, a media-law lecturer and deputy director of the University of Hong Kong’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre. But, she added, Beijing has the final authority in cases that also trigger national-security and foreign-affairs concerns.
The Hong Kong government said late Wednesday that its Immigration Department would consider the circumstances of each case and act in accordance with laws and immigration policies. It didn’t specifically address the cases of the expelled journalists.
Some local lawmakers and other critics questioned the legality of the move.
“I hope the government of Hong Kong will push back strongly on this gross infringement on its autonomy,” said U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D., Mass.), who is the chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. “It will be difficult to maintain the special U.S.-Hong Kong relationship moving forward if Beijing is constantly eroding the ‘one country, two systems’ framework.”
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks to the media in November 2019. Press freedom in Hong Kong is protected under the city’s mini-constitution.
Photo: thomas peter/ReutersIn November, President Trump signed The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, which requires the secretary of state to certify annually that Hong Kong is autonomous enough from Beijing to retain favored trading status with the U.S. The legislation opened the door for a number of possible punitive measures, such as sanctions, against officials found to be violating the city’s agreed freedoms. The first report is due in a few months.
Beijing’s decree to pre-emptively bar the journalists from the city is unprecedented and a blatant violation of the principle of ‘one country, two systems,’ said Alvin Yeung, a barrister, legislator and leader of the pro-democracy Civic Party. “It will only further reinforce the international community’s impression that Hong Kong is losing its autonomy as China tightens its grip,” he said.
The pronouncement creates significant uncertainty for international businesses that have previously operated under the assumption that their business in Hong Kong was insulated from politics, said Antony Dapiran, a corporate lawyer based in the city and author of the book “City on Fire: the Fight for Hong Kong.”
In October 2018, Hong Kong authorities effectively expelled Victor Mallet, the Hong Kong-based Asia news editor for the Financial Times, after he hosted a press-club talk by an activist who had called for Hong Kong’s independence from China, a speech that angered Beijing. Then, however, local authorities never publicly stated the reason for the visa denial.
The decision to not renew Mr. Mallet’s visa provoked condemnation from the Hong Kong business and international communities. It was seen as a precursor of restrictions on foreign journalists working in Hong Kong that is now coming true, said Emily Lau, a former chairwoman of the city’s Democratic Party.
Press freedom in Hong Kong is protected under the Basic Law and, along with wider free-speech protections and a separate legal system to China, is a major selling point used by the local government to attract foreign businesses to the international financial and trading center. The city is currently reeling from rising unemployment and collapsing retail and tourism industries hurt by protests and more recently, the coronavirus.
Journalists don’t need specific press visas to report and several news organizations, including the Journal and the Times, maintain their regional headquarters in the city.
“As long as they meet the requirements for a work visa, they are free to do reporting in Hong Kong,” said Chris Yeung, chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association. “That the Foreign Ministry has effectively directly applied the order in Hong Kong makes a mockery of the pledge of giving the city powers to handle its internal affairs.”
U.S. citizens visiting Hong Kong for not more than three months aren’t required to obtain visas, according to the consulate website.
Concerns about tightening press freedom grew throughout more than six months of protests in 2019, when many international correspondents flew in to help with coverage. Several journalism organizations condemned the Hong Kong police force’s treatment of reporters covering events on the streets after some were injured.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong expressed its alarm at China’s expulsion order. It called on the Hong Kong government to immediately clarify the situation, and said if the independent decision-making of the local Immigration Department on the employment of foreign nationals had changed, it would “represent a serious erosion of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle.”
China has periodically expelled journalists whose work angered them. Many have then moved to Hong Kong and continued to report on China from the city.
“I feel sorry that they won’t be able to report from Hong Kong, even though some of the reports are biased against the establishment,” said Regina Ip, an adviser to the current local administration and a pro-establishment lawmaker. “It is important that Hong Kong remains an international media center as part of ‘one country, two systems.’”
Write to Natasha Khan at natasha.khan@wsj.com
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2020-03-18 15:38:00Z
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