The Hong Kong government is facing international criticism following the landmark sedition case.
The Hong Kong government is facing international criticism for curtailing the city’s press freedom after two former editors of a shuttered local news outlet were found guilty of conspiring to publish seditious articles.
Stand News’ former editor-in-chief, Chung Pui-kuen, and former acting editor-in-chief, Patrick Lam, were
convicted on Aug. 29, marking the first sedition case against journalists in Hong Kong since the city’s handover from Britain to China in 1997.
Chung, 54, and Lam, 36, were arrested in December 2021, after more than 200 national security police
raided the media outlet’s newsroom. Soon after, the company
announced its closure and dismissed all its employees.
Stand News, known for publishing content supportive of Hong Kong democracy protesters, is one of several media outlets, such as Apple Daily, that have shut down since China’s communist regime imposed a draconian national security law on Hong Kong in June 2020. The U.S. State Department and the European Union each issued a statement on Aug. 29 criticizing the Hong Kong authorities.
“The conviction of Stand News editors for sedition is a direct attack on media freedom and undermines Hong Kong’s once-proud international reputation for openness. We urge Beijing and Hong Kong authorities to restore and uphold rights guaranteed in the Basic Law,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller
said in a post on social media platform X on Aug. 29.
“This latest conviction is yet another sign of the dwindling space for press freedom, a fundamental right enshrined in the Hong Kong Basic Law,” the European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic arm, said in a statement.
It noted that Chung and Lam were held under pre-trial detention for more than 300 days and that the trial hearing lasted 57 days instead of the estimated 20 days.
“The EU calls on the Hong Kong authorities to restore confidence in press freedom in Hong Kong and to stop prosecuting journalists. The preservation of free, independent, and pluralistic media is vital for resilient and healthy societies,” the statement reads.
Case
The case was centered on 17 articles. Judge Kwok Wai-kin said in his
written judgment that 11 carried “seditious intentions,” adding that Stand News became “a tool to smear and vilify” Beijing and the Hong Kong government during the 2019–20
pro-democracy movement in the city.
The 11 articles
include commentaries written by self-exiled Hong Kong activist Nathan Law and esteemed journalists Allan Au and Chan Pui-man.
Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd., the outlet’s holding company, was convicted of the same sedition charge.
Lam did not appear in court due to health reasons.
Defense Lawyer Audrey Eu read out a mitigation statement from Lam in court.
“The only way for journalists to defend press freedom is reporting,” Eu quoted Lam as saying.
Eu did not read out Chung’s mitigation statement in court.
According to Washington-based advocacy group Hong Kong Democracy Council, which provided a translation of the statement, Chung wrote that some Hongkongers have lost their freedom because they care about the “freedom and dignity of everyone in the community.”
“Recording and reporting their stories and thoughts truthfully is an unavoidable responsibility for journalists,” Chung wrote.
Chung and Lam were allowed to remain on bail until their scheduled sentence on Sept. 26. They face up to two years in prison.
A Hong Kong government spokesperson said the conviction “signifies justice being firmly upheld,”
according to a statement.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong
said in a statement that the verdict “will send shockwaves through Hong Kong newsrooms, as well as international news organisations with bureaus in the city, as they seek to understand whether their day-to-day operations could be in violation of Hong Kong law.”
Criticisms
Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the chair and co-chair, respectively, of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China,
issued a statement on Aug. 29 condemning the conviction while calling for the “unconditional release” of Chung and Lam.
“It is another sad day for press freedom as the Hong Kong government again shows that it will aggressively curtail the free flow of news and information in violation of international law,” the two lawmakers wrote.
Hong Kong was
ranked 135 out of 180 countries and territories in Reporters Without Borders’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index, down from
73 in 2019. The nonprofit
noted that Hong Kong “has suffered an unprecedented series of setbacks since 2020, when Beijing adopted a National Security Law aimed at silencing independent voices.”
The International-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a network of hundreds of politicians from parliaments around the world, applauded Chung and Lam for “their courage and steadfastness in pursuit of what they know to be right,”
according to a statement.
The group condemned the conviction, saying that it is “a clear indication that the Hong Kong authorities will not hesitate to use the law as an instrument of repression.”
“This is a clear signal to the international community—and to the business world—that Hong Kong no longer behaves as a common law jurisdiction,” the group said. “If publishing an opinion critical of the government can be ruled as sedition, the implications for those engaged in due diligence and other normal business operations are far-reaching.”
The Associated Press contributed to the report.
