Media’s job shall be facilitating understanding, not driving paranoia, says Spokesman of China’s Foreign Ministry Office in Hong Kong

Counsellor Huang Jingrui is the spokesman of the Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong. Despite being posted in the city since September 2022, he has only given closed door, off-the-record talks to other diplomats and journalists.

That finally changed this September — two years after the spokesman arrived in Hong Kong.

For his first-ever public address, Counsellor Huang spoke at an FCC Club Lunch alongside Correspondent Board Governor William Zheng, an expert on mainland politics who works for SCMP as a Senior China Correspondent.

While Counsellor Huang began his talk by outlining China’s Third Plenum that took place in July and how it will affect Hong Kong, he also addressed the international community’s concerns about declining freedoms in the city.

“China and Hong Kong’s reputation has been smeared over the years, and actually the media is part of it. Media itself has become a problem, especially Western media,” he said.

When it comes to Western media’s coverage of Hong Kong, Counsellor Huang finds that they mainly focus on national security news, such as the enactment of Article 23 of the Basic Law or the enforcement of the Beijing-imposed National Security Law. Counsellor Huang believes that Western media should be more balanced in order to provide people living in other regions a more accurate depiction of what’s happening in Hong Kong.

He also commented on measures taken under President Joe Biden’s administration that have established a quota on the number of Chinese journalists that are allowed to live and work in the United States, which has resulted in some Chinese journalists being forced to return to the mainland. China swiftly created its own quotas for American journalists which resulted in a similar exodus.

Despite these “tit-for-tat” moves, Counsellor Huang emphasised that journalists on both sides are key in developing mutual understanding.

“We hope that there will be more journalists — American journalists in China and Chinese journalists in America — to promote a better understanding between the two countries,” he said.

When asked whether or not Hong Kong still guarantees free expression for both regular citizens and media, Counsellor Huang reminded the audience that while enjoying the “Two Systems”, they should also keep the “One Country” part in mind. Everyone can enjoy freedoms — as long as certain “red lines” concerning “one country” aren’t crossed, he said.

“Don’t just look at the Two Systems,” he began. “We still have to be One Country, and there is always a red line. You can’t overthrow the government. You can’t advocate independence. There’s always a red line. Apart from that, you have all the freedom.”

Counsellor Huang was also asked about the recent cases of journalists being denied entry into Hong Kong. While unable to comment on individual cases, he did maintain the opinion that Hong Kong is a key location for international media, but that everyone has to operate in accordance with the law.

“Everybody’s freedom is limited, and it has to be within the framework of the law. Nobody’s above the law, even if you are the media,” he said.

Before finishing his talk, Counsellor Huang also shared his personal thoughts on what the job of local and international journalists should be.

“It is your job to facilitate understanding — not to facilitate misunderstanding and even driving paranoia, to [a] new McCarthyism. That’s not your job. Your job is to tell the truth, facilitate understanding between countries and people,” he concluded.

To watch the full discussion between Counsellor Huang and William Zheng, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel: