US-funded Radio Free Asia closes its Hong Kong bureau over security considerations beneath new safety legislation

HONG KONG (AP) — The president of U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia mentioned on Friday that its Hong Kong bureau has been closed due to security considerations beneath a brand new nationwide safety legislation, deepening worries concerning the metropolis’s media freedoms.

Bay Fang, the president of RFA, mentioned in an announcement that it’s going to not have full-time workers in Hong Kong, though it might retain its official media registration.

HONG KONG PRISONERS JAILED FOR NATIONAL SECURITY CRIMES UNLIKELY TO GET EARLY RELEASE, LEADER SAYS

“Actions by Hong Kong authorities, including referring to RFA as a ‘foreign force,’ raise serious questions about our ability to operate in safety with the enactment of Article 23,” Fang mentioned.

Surveillance cameras are seen as a customer seems at Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, Monday, March 11, 2024. The president of U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia mentioned its Hong Kong bureau has been closed due to security considerations beneath a brand new nationwide safety legislation, deepening considerations concerning the metropolis’s media freedoms. Bay Fang, the president of RFA, mentioned in an announcement Friday March 29, 2024 that it’s going to not have full-time workers in Hong Kong, though it might retain its official media registration.  ( AP Picture/Louise Delmotte)

RFA’s transfer is broadly seen as a mirrored image of the town’s narrowing area for a free press following the enactment of the Safeguarding Nationwide Safety Ordinance, regionally often known as Article 23 laws.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, the rating member of the Home International Affairs Committee, expressed concern over RFA’s shutdown and mentioned the brand new legislation “not only represents a significant escalation in efforts by Hong Kong and Beijing authorities to suppress free speech and expression,” however “also undermines media freedom and the public’s ability to obtain fact-based information.”

Cédric Alviani, the Asia-Pacific bureau director for Reporters Without Borders, known as the broadcaster’s withdrawal “a consequence of the chilling effect applied on media outlets” by the brand new safety legislation.

“We urge democracies to build up pressure on Chinese authorities so that press freedom is fully restored in the territory,” Alviani mentioned.

Hong Kong, as soon as seen as a bastion of media freedom in Asia, has already modified drastically since Beijing imposed an identical safety legislation in 2020, following anti-government protests in 2019.

For the reason that introduction of the 2020 legislation, two native information retailers recognized for important protection of the federal government, Apple Day by day and Stand Information, had been pressured to close down after the arrest of their senior administration, together with Apple Day by day writer Jimmy Lai.

Hong Kong ranked one hundred and fortieth out of 180 nations and territories in Reporters With out Borders’ newest World Press Freedom Index.

The brand new home-grown safety legislation, which was enacted by an expedited legislative course of final week, has expanded the federal government’s energy to stamp out challenges to its rule.

It targets espionage, disclosing state secrets and techniques, and “colluding with external forces” to commit unlawful acts, amongst others. Some offenses, resembling treason and riot, carry a most penalty of life imprisonment.

The laws has sparked worries amongst many journalists over an additional decline in media freedom. They concern the broadly framed legislation might criminalize their day-to-day work.

RFA, funded by the U.S. Congress by the U.S. Company for International Media, has not too long ago been beneath the Hong Kong authorities’s assault. In January, police issued a letter to RFA and condemned it for quoting “false statements” by wished activist Ted Hui that they mentioned smeared the police power.

Hui, a former pro-democracy lawmaker, is without doubt one of the overseas-based activists for whom police have supplied awards of 1 million Hong Kong {dollars} ($128,000) for data resulting in their arrest. He’s accused of requesting overseas nations to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and China.

In February, Hong Kong’s safety minister, Chris Tang, mentioned some feedback quoted in stories by RFA concerning the new laws had been “fake” and “false.”

He didn’t specify the feedback or stories, however mentioned they prompt that some provisions of the legislation had been concentrating on the media. He insisted there have been protections for the media within the laws.

When requested whether or not the work of RFA is taken into account “external interference” or “espionage,” Tang mentioned any violation of the legislation ought to be judged on a case-by-case foundation. If somebody intentionally used false data to defame the federal government’s legislative work, he mentioned he needed to let Hong Kongers see clearly the intention of those “external forces” and those that have fled and need to endanger Hong Kong’s safety.

The Hong Kong authorities on Friday refused to touch upon operational choices of particular person organizations. Nevertheless it condemned “all scaremongering and smearing remarks” in opposition to the brand new legislation in an e mail response.

It mentioned many different nations even have safety legal guidelines. “To single out Hong Kong and suggest that journalists would only experience concerns when operating here but not in other countries would be grossly biased, if not outrageous,” it mentioned.

The federal government insisted the brand new legislation solely targets an especially small minority of people that endanger nationwide safety and that almost all journalists is not going to unwittingly violate it.

Fang mentioned RFA’s Hong Kong bureau has operated as a non-public information group since its launch in 1996 and that its editorial independence was safeguarded by a firewall endorsed by the U.S. Congress.

“This restructuring means that RFA will shift to using a different journalistic model reserved for closed media environments,” she mentioned.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

However she assured RFA’s viewers in Hong Kong and mainland China that its content material would “continue without disruption.”

Hong Kong authorities haven’t introduced any arrests beneath the brand new legislation. However the authorities on Wednesday condemned the BBC for what it known as an “extremely misleading report” about an activist who was blocked from a remission of sentence, or early launch, beneath the legislation. Tang additionally wrote a letter to sentence an opinion piece by The New York Instances.

Over the previous months, articles by different worldwide media retailers, together with the Washington Put up and The Instances, even have been criticized by officers.