FCC club lunch with Johnny Yui-siu LAU

Speaker: Johnny Yui-siu LAU
Independent Political Commentator

Topic: Self censorship in Hong Kong: how worried should we be?

The South China Morning Post has come under the spotlight as the world considers the state of Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms on the 15th anniversary of its handover to China. The newspaper is fighting off allegations of self censorship after it decided to downplay the news of Tiananmen dissident Li Wangyang’s death. SCMP editor-in-chief Mr. Wang Xiangwei denies the decisions were driven by political considerations, and says the 109-year-old newspaper continues to be free from external interference under his editorship.

Johnny LAU (劉銳紹), a veteran political commentator who accused Sing Pao Daily editors of distorting his column ahead of the chief executive election in March, will share his views on whether it has become harder for the press to maintain an independent voice in Hong Kong.

Mr. LAU has 40 years of experience in the media industry. He was the Beijing bureau chief at Wen Wei Po, the pro-Communist party newspaper, before he was fired for his reports on the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.