Following the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) and several international news organizations, the U.S. human rights group PEN America also issued a statement on Saturday (20th), warning that the Wall Street Journal's decision to fire Cheng Kar-ru shortly after she was elected president of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) may send a worrying signal.
“Media organizations that rely on a free press to conduct their work are champions of journalists worldwide. Any situation in which journalists are targeted or punished for supporting free press research and documentation is deeply concerning,” said James Tager, Research Director at PEN America. “In just the past few years, Hong Kong and Beijing authorities have embarked on a historic rollback of press freedom and other civil and political rights in Hong Kong, long a vital hub for news reporting in Asia. The timing of the Wall Street Journal’s decision and the comments by one of its editors are concerning and could create the impression that a major Western media organization is condoning this rollback. Media organizations must firmly refute the idea that a free press is a contested norm and avoid actions that could be interpreted as supporting government repression.”
Since the passage of the new national security law in Hong Kong in 2020, numerous human rights organizations, including PEN America, have consistently warned of a rollback of rights in the city. The government has carried out politically motivated arrests and prosecutions, launched a wave of book bans, and increased regulation of a wide range of areas of Hong Kong life deemed political by the government. Press freedom has been a primary target of this rollback, with government officials cracking down on media outlets critical of Beijing.
According to PEN America's 2023 Freedom to Write Index, China has been the world's largest prisoner of writers and public intellectuals for the fifth consecutive year.
Journalist Cheng Ka-ju revealed last week that she had been fired from the Wall Street Journal. She claimed she was fired for refusing to step down as chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, a Hong Kong-based union that monitors press freedom in the city and publishes an annual report on it.
