HK Journalists Association ‘assesses risk’, worries about press freedom and its own future

In the past six months, three Hong Kong media outlets popular with the opposition have  folded. The Apple Daily newspaper and online publication Stand News closed after they were investigated by national security police while another online outlet Citizen News shut itself down as a precaution. Hong Kong’s leader Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has denied the city is cracking down on the media and said those who “are fearful of not being able to comply with the law” should take necessary decisions. 
On January 21, 2022, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) showed reporters a letter it received from the government asking for financial information in addition to what is normally provided in annual financial reports. The government also asked the HKJA to explain how its opposition in 2019 to a later-withdrawn extradition bill was related to its work as a trade union. HKJA chairman and former Stand News editor Ronson Chan says the recent developments have raised major concerns about the future of the organisation and press freedom in the city.
(Photo:  SCMP / May Tse)