Only July 22, 2020, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong, wrote to the Hong Kong Police Force requesting an explanation about their treatment of journalists during several incidents at Yuen Long on Tuesday, July 21, when members of the press were repeatedly asked for their credentials. Here is the force’s response, sent on July 24.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong has written to the Hong Kong Police Force requesting an explanation about their treatment of journalists during several incidents at Yuen Long on Tuesday, July 21, when members of the press were repeatedly asked for their credentials.
There were several reports, which have been corroborated by footage posted on social media, of journalists wearing yellow vests being asked to produce press credentials when they were covering the first anniversary of the attack at the Yuen Long MTR station.
At least two journalists, wearing yellow vests and holding press badges, received a fixed penalty of 2,000 HKD for taking part in a prohibited group gathering under the ordnance on prevention and control of disease. They said the police had decided they were not journalists.
There were other instances where police “kettled” groups of journalists and checked their press IDs. As there is no official Hong Kong press card, we have asked on what basis the officers decided who was a journalist and who was not.
It appeared that HKJA card holders were accepted, others were asked to show proof that they were being paid, i.e. working as professional journalists, and in other cases it seemed to arbitrarily come down to whether the officer had heard of the journalist’s publication.
Numerous journalists reported having their ID checked multiple times.
The police said they were taking these actions because there are so many “fake reporters” at protest sites, This is an issue that police representatives have raised previously in meetings with FCC delegations.
As we explained at our last meeting with the HKPF, the reality on the ground now is that there are many amateur journalists working in the field. Although they may not be associated with any established media outet, they should be treated with respect and be allowed to operate as long as they are respecting the law.
There are also professional freelance journalists on the ground who may not have a fixed assignment but are working in the hope that they will obtain marketable content, including video and images.
Established media rely on these independent freelancers and also often use unsolicited video and photographs provided by amateur journalists, many of whom may be studying journalism or have recently graduated.
We asked the HKPF to explain:
— Has there been a change of tactics or new orders issued regarding the treatment of journalists on the ground in such situations, particularly when it comes to journalists that officers may consider in their estimation to be “fake”.
— If officers have been asked to check the credentials of people wearing yellow vests to verify if they are genuine journalists, and if so, what criteria are they using? Has HKPF issued a checklist or guidelines for verifying the status of journalists? If so, this would seem to be de facto a new system of press registration based on a set of particular set of criteria that none of us has seen.
We requested that the police clarify the situation and reiterated the FCC’s opposition to the idea of a government-regulated press accreditation for journalists in Hong Kong. Such a system would not be in keeping with Hong Kong’s tradition and culture as a place where press freedom is an entrenched value and the rights of journalists to do their job unimpeded is respected.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong on July 7 noted the statement by Chief Executive Carrie Lam at a press conference before the Executive Council meeting in which she answered questions about the new National Security Law.
In answer to a question regarding letters from the FCC seeking a guarantee that journalists would be allowed to continue reporting on any topic under the law, the Chief Executive replied: “If the Foreign Correspondents’ Club or all reporters in Hong Kong can give me a 100 percent guarantee that they will not commit any offences under this piece of national legislation, then I can do the same.” The Chief Executive added that the new law “clearly defined” the four types of actions that are now unlawful.
The FCC stresses that it respects the laws of the Special Administrative Region. At the same time, the FCC has written to the Chief Executive seeking clarity on specific areas where the new law is vague and where terms are undefined, particularly regarding the press and freedom of speech. So far, our detailed questions remain unanswered.
For example, the FCC in its letter asked whether any specific topics are off limits for news reporting. Also, will journalists face legal risks for quoting government critics or critical voices? Will journalists face legal risk for their social media posts? Can journalists be held liable for activities or events, like attending conferences, outside of China or Hong Kong where critical views might be expressed?
As we have not received a detailed response to our specific and pertinent questions, we would again urge the Chief Executive to provide a more complete and comprehensive response to the concerns raised in our letter. We further would like to reissue our open invitation for the Chief Executive to give a luncheon address at the FCC and answer questions in an open forum, as a way to address journalists’ concerns created by the vagaries of the new law.
To operate within the new law, the media needs to know precisely what is permissible. We look forward to receiving clarification from the Chief Executive, as well as having her come to the FCC to speak.
On 24 June, the FCC wrote an open letter to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, the Hon Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, urgently seeking clarification of the potential impact of the pending national security law on the city’s media including foreign correspondents and the broader implications for press freedom. We expressed our concern that the new law will curtail the ability of journalists to report freely about Hong Kong and mainland China, as is our right under Article 27 of the Basic Law. We received a reply from the Chief Executive’s Office, which did not answer any of our specific concerns. We are publishing that letter below, along with second letter requesting an urgent response, especially now that the national security law has taken effect.
On June 24, representatives from the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong, delivered an open letter to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Hon Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, seeking clarification of the potential impact of the pending national security law on the city’s media including foreign correspondents, and on the broader implications for press freedom.
A new survey conducted by the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) and released on June 19 showed that an overwhelming majority of journalists in Hong Kong worry about their personal safety if the new national security law is enacted. The legislation, approved by the National People’s Congress in Beijing, would criminalize any act of secession, subversion, terrorism, foreign intervention, and allows Chinese security forces to operate in the city.
Read the CPJ report on the survey here.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club Hong Kong deplores the guilty verdict against Rappler CEO and executive editor Maria Ressa and its former researcher-writer Reynaldo Santos on cyber libel charges.
Maria Ressa at the May 17 FCC club lunch. Photo: Sarah Graham/FCCA court in Manila sentenced them to up to six years in jail but they can appeal the verdict.
“The FCC is gravely concerned about the precedent this sets and the possible chilling effect on the press in the Philippines and across the region,” said FCC president Jodi Schneider. “Press freedom, already endangered in the Philippines, is now further undermined with this high-profile verdict.”
Ressa, executive editor of news website Rappler.com, was arrested last year over an allegedly defamatory article published in 2012 which linked a businessman to trafficking and drug smuggling. She denied charges of cyber libel, calling them “baseless”. The move came several months after a warrant was issued for her arrest on seven charges of tax fraud — a case she called “politically motivated”. Rappler has been a frequent critic of President Rodrigo Duterte and his administration.
Ressa co-founded Rappler in 2012 and turned it into one of the region’s most influential media outlets, even as the Philippines government arrested her and made efforts in the courts to silence her and the publication.
With a career in journalism spanning more than 30 years in Asia, she has won multiple awards for her work, including the 2018 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists. In December 2018, Ressa was named a Time Person of the Year, and most recently was chosen as among Time’s 100 most influential people of 2019.
She has been a regular speaker on press freedom at FCC Hong Kong events.
The conviction of Ressa under the Philippines’ 2012 cyber libel law confirms widespread fears it would be used against online journalists and would harm the freedom of the press in the country. The law allows for up to 12 years in prison for a conviction of cyber libel, and cases can be brought as many as 12 years after an article or post, posing grave risks to journalists who wish to report and write critically on those in power.
A delegation from the FCC board led by club president Jodi Schneider met representatives of the police public relations branch at police headquarters on June 2 to discuss the situation for reporters on the ground in the light of new police tactics.
To facilitate the discussion we agreed it was off the record though with the understanding we would be issuing a report giving the general areas of discussion.
This was a follow-up to our initial October 10 meeting, and comes after a recent series of incidents in which journalists were once again the target of unprovoked attacks by police wielding pepper spray and tear gas.
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In some instances, journalists were prevented from reporting on demonstrations by new control techniques, like the use of orange tape to cordon off scenes of police action. Some officers deliberately obstructed photographers by putting their hands in front of cameras.
Police Commissioner Chris Tang Ping-keung had held a meeting on May 21 with four local journalist associations during which he offered a personal apology for the way the reporters were treated during demonstrations on May 10, Mother’s Day.
The FCC had asked to attend that discussion, but the police preferred a separate meeting given the particular concerns of the international media in Hong Kong and that the May 21 meeting was conducted in Cantonese.
The discussion was open and candid, lasting more than an hour-and-a-half, as the police side listened to our concerns about the need for unobstructed access to see and record freely when arrests are being made and when police dispersal operations are underway.
We insisted that journalists identified by yellow vests, and who were not obstructing or interfering with ongoing police operations, should be considered working reporters and respected as such, even in situations where some non-journalists and other observers might be mingling with or behind the press corps.
The police representatives acknowledged the FCC board members’ explanation of the new media ecosystem, which includes numerous new online media outlets and a large number of freelance journalists and unaffiliated journalists who deserve the same rights to cover events free of interference and harassment as those working for large or well-known organisations.
We reminded them that press freedom is a right guaranteed under Hong Kong law, which the representatives acknowledged.
For their side, the police representatives acknowledged that transparency through unhindered media coverage also serves the interests of frontline police offers on the streets.
To help improve working relations on the ground, they said they were adding additional “blue vest” media liaison officers.
The two sides agreed to continue the dialogue and to explore ways that might help the Hong Kong police force and its frontline officers better understand the role and needs of journalists covering demonstrations.
The FCC welcomes this ongoing discussion as a way to protect the rights of journalists, and we will keep our members informed of any additional contacts or next steps.
The FCC Hong Kong wishes to express its solidarity with journalists in the United States who are facing attacks from both protesters and police while covering the current demonstrations.
Several of the journalists who have been targeted work for news organisations represented at the club.
The FCC insists that journalists should be allowed to carry out their work without fear of harassment, violence or arrest, whether it is in the streets of Hong Kong, Minneapolis, New York, Los Angeles or elsewhere in the world.
This is yet another reminder of the dangers involved in covering street violence, with which media in Hong Kong have become all too familiar over the past year.
Essential advice for reporters is contained in the videos of the club’s series of safety briefings that were held during last year’s protests.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has also just issued these guidelines.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has issued a statement denouncing Beijing’s decision to impose “national security” measures on Hong Kong, saying that it will endanger journalists and press freedom in the special administrative region, which is supposed to be autonomous until 2047.
You can read the full statement here.