Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday that RTHK must uphold “One Country, Two Systems,” after a minister condemned a journalist’s question about Taiwan during an interview with a World Health Organisation (WHO) adviser.
At a media briefing before the Executive Council meeting, Lam said that – as a public broadcaster and government department – RTHK could not claim immunity and fail to observe the “important and fundamental” principle of upholding the “One Country,Two Systems.”
“Even as a public broadcaster, in the charter for RTHK, there are very clear appliance of its public broadcaster role in deepening the Hong Kong people’s understanding of One Country, Two Systems’, so these are clear parameters of regulating the operation of RTHK,” Lam said.
Lam’s remarks came after RTHK’s The Pulse released an interview with WHO adviser Bruce Aylward on March 28. The physician-epidemiologist appeared to pretend not to hear producer Yvonne Tong’s question about whether the UN body would reconsider Taiwan’s membership. When asked a second time, Aylward ended the video call.
Last Thursday, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau condemned the programme, saying that RTHK had breached the One-China principle and its duties as a public broadcaster.
“It is common knowledge that the WHO membership is based on sovereign states. RTHK, as a government department and a public service broadcaster, should have [a] proper understanding of the above without any deviation. As the Editor-in-chief of RTHK, the Director of Broadcasting should be responsible for this,” a statement issued on behalf of Yau read.
Lam supported the criticism made by Yau: “I certainly endorse and support the stance and position of Secretary Edward Yau.” She added the minister and the Director of Broadcasting Leung Ka-wing would appear at the special finance committee meeting at the Legislative Council on Monday to give further explanation on the matter.
Cédric Alviani, Reporters Without Borders East Asia bureau head, condemned the government’s criticism: “The charter of RTHK clearly contains abusive dispositions and should be immediately revised… The purpose of a public media is, in the interest of the public, to investigate and report facts independently from any political or economic pressure and not to assist the authorities in promoting government messages.”
The Republic of China (ROC) government has ruled Taiwan since 1945 after Japan was defeated in World War II, ending 50 years of occupation. The ROC authorities fully retreated to the island in 1949 as the communist People’s Republic of China defeated them in the Civil War and took control of the mainland. Beijing has since claimed democratic Taiwan as one of its provinces, threatening to unify it by force if necessary.
See also: Explainer – Is Taiwan a country? The self-ruled island’s disputed status
