China's New Security Law Puts a Squeeze on Independent Hong Kong Media

Beijing's new security law is likely to have a chilling effect on media freedoms in Hong Kong, known internationally as a vibrant press hub with a reputation for press freedom that has long stood in contrast with the mainland's censorship of dissent, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The national security law, released late Tuesday and effective immediately, rolls back the autonomy of Hong Kong's governance. The legislation aims to quell anti-government protests that have taken place in Hong Kong since June 2019 over a bill that would have allowed for criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China under certain circumstances

Hong Kong was ruled by Britain as a colony but then returned to China in 1997. Under the "one country, two systems" arrangement, it has some autonomy, and its people more rights.

The new law has already caused major shifts in the media market.

Radio Television Hong Kong, the only independent, publicly funded media outlet on Chinese soil that is guaranteed editorial independence by its charter, in mid-May announced plans to axe one of its most popular weekly shows, Reuters reported.

Leung Ka-wing, director of broadcasting, told employees he canceled the show to "protect RTHK" and its staff.

Around a dozen writers who published pieces for InMedia HK, a site that posts articles supporting democracy, asked editors to take down some or all of their archives, according to The New York Times.

"Hong Kong people understand this means the end of the 'one country, two systems' model for the territory, and we are now reduced to being a city like on the mainland, like Shenzhen or Shanghai," said Joseph Cheng, a longtime political scientist at City University of Hong Kong. "We will have to behave like the people on the mainland."

"It's much worse than the worst we could expect," said Cédric Alviani, East Asia bureau head at the nonprofit Reporters Without Borders, or RSF.

"We can't say that it kills press freedom in Hong Kong, but it's killing the principle of press freedom that was enshrined in the Basic Law," he added.