HONG KONG—The replacement of the chief editor at Ming Pao continues to cause general public concern. 90 scholars signed a joint pledge to support the staff of Ming Pao, urging the management to commit not to waver in their editorial policy.
One of the convenors for the joint signatures, Ivan Choy, Senior lecturer of the faculty of Politics and Public Administration at the Chinese University, said the Hong Kong media have been suppressed frequently in recent years. He felt sorry the scholars were only acting in hindsight.
The Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union has founded the “Support Group from teachers and students for Ming Pao”, an online group for joint pledges from the education field, declaring that it will closely monitor whether Ming Pao would maintain its previous editorial policy.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association has also launched a “one person, one letter” campaign, urging the public to express their concerns to the boss of the newspaper, Tiong Hiew King, through letters.
These actions are all aimed at the same goal, hoping that Ming Pao’s editorial policy will not change due to its change of its chief editor.
In fact, this incident is consistent with the paper’s long-standing editorial policy, but even so, the Hong Kong people should not accept the appointment of the new chief editor happily or take the change lightly.
Epoch Times pointed out in an article in its last issue, “New Ming Pao Chief Editor a Chinese Communist Party supporter”, that Ming Pao actually fell a long time ago from it what it should be.
The “neutrality” Ming Pao has maintained, posing with the image of an intellectual media, was like an anaesthetic. At critical moments, it has spoken up for the Chinese Communist Party, blurring the real face of the CCP from the citizens.
Hong Kong citizens in general—including the educated—have been fooled by it. Sometimes one wonders at this amazing absurdity of our society.
Over the past years, the mass media in Hong Kong have been “coordinating” with the CCP in the suppression of Falun Gong. The CCP’s devilish persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in the mainland has become a taboo subject for them.
In Hong Kong, these media outlets also turn a blind eye on the peaceful petitions and parades of Falun Gong practitioners. Their silence turns them into the accomplices of the CCP’s crimes against humanity.
The Hong Kong people do not want media such as these, with no backbone and lacking the will power to act with integrity.
Up till today, the CCP continues to persecute the Falun Gong practitioners who are kind and peaceful. If the general public can truly understand the truth, will they still think of Ming Pao as a newspaper that deserves our respect?
Besides, other informed citizens in various sectors in Hong Kong, including political parties and those in the academic fields, have, for different reasons, chosen to retreat and compromise on such a fundamental issue of right and wrong. This is a shame and a disgrace for Hong Kong.
I appeal to all Hong Kong citizens: only when we have braved the threats and the unscrupulous coercion of the Chinese Communist Party, can we truly stand up and face the judgment of history.
Translated by Y.K. Lu. Written in English by Stephen Gregory.
Read the original Chinese Article.
