The growing wariness toward Beijing registered by the polls may reflect changes in Hong Kong’s institutions, as they come under greater control by the CCP.
A survey released by the Hong Kong Journalist Association showed that 92.7 percent of Hong Kong journalists believe that Hong Kong’s freedom of the press has deteriorated, and 71 percent believe that self-censorship exists in Hong Kong’s press, the Voice of America (VOA) reported.
Tam Chi Keung, a professor at the Macau University of Science and Technology and former chairman of the Hong Kong Journalist Association, told VOA that due to pressure from the Chinese regime’s Liaison Office—the equivalent of an Embassy, the Hong Kong government has imposed an increasing number of restrictions on Hong Kong’s media.
Willy Lam, Deputy Chief Editor of Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, told VOA that the degree of self-censorship in Hong Kong’s media—in both Chinese and English media, and on television and in newspapers—has grown significantly.
According to Lam, many major media companies in Hong Kong are run by owners with large businesses and investments in mainland China, and so it is in their best interests to maintain good relationships with the Chinese regime’s top leadership.
“They don’t want to publish reports that criticize China or embarrass its leadership,” Lam said.
Leadership Leans Left
Leadership in Hong Kong is beginning to lean more towards the interests of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The Hong Kong Legislative Council consists of 60 official members who are elected and 14 unofficial members who are appointed by the chief executive.
The 14 unofficial members are mostly pro-Beijing politicians. Six are Leung’s close allies and seven are members of either the National People’s Congress or the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, according to the Hong Kong Daily News.
