Hong Kong journalists say they face unprecedented harassment from pro-China ‘patriots’

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

At least 15 Hong Kong journalists and their families have been facing harassment and intimidation from self-proclaimed pro-China “patriots” in recent months, the city’s largest journalist association has said.

The “systemic and organised attacks” involved death threats, and threatening and defamatory complaint letters sent to the individuals since June, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) said.

Those targeted include 15 journalists, their families and associates – including landlords, charities, schools and private businesses – who have received anonymous complaints by email or letter, HKJA chairperson Selina Cheng said in a press conference.

She said HKJA’s executive committee and 13 media outlets including the Hong Kong Free Press, Hong Kong Inmedia, HK Feature and two journalism education institutions, have also faced intimidation.

“I think this is the largest scale harassment against reporters in Hong Kong that we have thus far known of,” Ms Cheng said.

“We are making a loud call today to say that we do not accept such behaviour.”

She said the association’s members faced a “severe wave of trolling and harassment” between June and August when emails and letters were sent to workplaces, social media accounts and home addresses. It has forced some people to give up their profession or union positions, she said, succumbing to pressure tactics.

“This type of intimidation and harassment, which includes sharing false and defamatory content and death threats, damages press freedom in Hong Kong and we should not tolerate it. HKJA and I believe all journalists in Hong Kong welcome criticism and debate. This is not it,” she said.

Ms Cheng stated that the primary form of harassment consisted of anonymous complaints with similar wording, often from individuals who identified themselves as “patriots”.

It comes at a time when the city’s once largely free media has come under increased pressure, following a government crackdown after the mass pro-democracy protests in 2019. Journalists have faced trials under the new national security law, with major independent outlets such as Apple Daily and Stand News shut down by the authorities.

The Hong Kong government urged any journalists who felt harassed to report it to the police. Michael Cheuk, the under secretary for security, told the media: “Hong Kong is a society governed by the rule of law, and no one should be intimidated, insulted, or so-called harassed.”

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the harassment of journalists and called on the international community to take action.

“We strongly condemn this harassment campaign led against the independent media outlets that managed to survive the previous waves of government repression. We urge the international community to intensify its pressure on the Chinese regime so press freedom is fully restored in the territory,” said Cédric Alviani, RSF’s Asia-Pacific bureau director.

Tom Grundy, director of Hong Kong Free Press, told Reuters his landlord and local property agencies received anonymous letters making “wild claims and threatening ‘unimaginable consequences’ and ‘collateral damage’” unless he was evicted.

Inmedia told Reuters one of its employees had received harassment messages.

HK Feature said it was “shocked by the varying degrees of harassment of our journalists and their relatives”.

“We hope the public will take journalism work seriously and support our work so that reporting can be free from fear,” it said.

At least 28 journalists and press freedom defenders have faced trial since the passing of the 2020 National Security Law. Out of those, 10 are currently in detention, including British citizen and Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai.

On 29 August, two former editors-in-chief of the now-defunct Stand News were found guilty of producing “seditious publications”. It was the first sedition case involving the media in modern Hong Kong’s history.