HK denies visa renewal for foreign journalist who chaired pro-independence talk at FCC
Victor Mallet (third from right) attends the luncheon to host Hong Kong National Party convenor Andy Chan at The Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Central. Hong Kong has refused to renew the visa of the vice-president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) after he chaired a controversial talk by an independence activist in August.
“The Hong Kong authorities have rejected an application to renew the work visa of Victor Mallet, Asia news editor at the Financial Times,” a spokeswoman for the newspaper headquartered in London said on Friday.
“This is the first time we have encountered this situation in Hong Kong, and we have not been given a reason for the rejection.”
Mallet, a seasoned journalist who became the FCC’s vice-president last year, clashed with former chief executive Leung Chun-ying in August over the club’s decision to host Hong Kong National Party (HKNP) convenor Andy Chan Ho-tin for a lunch talk.
Chan’s party was then facing an unprecedented ban by the government on grounds of national security and public safety, and was officially outlawed last month.
Mallet had argued that the FCC was upholding freedom of expression, and views from people across the political spectrum should be permitted, after China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the club to call off the talk.
In a subsequent open letter to Mallet, Leung said he was “gravely concerned” about Mallet’s logic as that effectively meant the club would not “draw any line against criminals and terrorists”.
The Immigration Department said it had no comment on Friday.