LATEST NEWS & VIEWS
Explainer: The decline of Hong Kong’s press freedom under the national security law
Remarks on axed satirical current affairs show rooted in verified fact, Hong Kong court hears
US photography professor who covered 2019 protests says Hong Kong denied him entry, suspects he is ‘on a list’
COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS
Don’t attack the messenger, work to rebuild trust among Hongkongers
On the night of May 10, 2023, publishers of Ming Pao axed Zunzi’s political cartoons, which they had published daily since 1983. Governance and civil society in Hong Kong are worse off for this move. Ming Pao reacted to government pressure. Our government officials complained that Zunzi’s cartoons ignored and twisted facts, misled and deceived…
Before books are deemed unlawful, lawyers should read them. I should know, I was once a censor in Hong Kong…
Over 30 years ago, I was a book censor for a short time when I worked for Hong Kong’s justice minister. In the autumn of 1988, Salman Rushdie’s book, The Satanic Verses, was published. The book was a publishing sensation for all the wrong reasons. It contained chapters that fictionalised episodes in the prophet Mohammed’s…
FEATURES
Explainer: Why, and how, the gov’t wants to ban protest song ‘Glory to Hong Kong’
Four years on from the 2019 protests and unrest, Hong Kong is seeking to ban unlawful acts linked to the movement’s anthem, Glory to Hong Kong – a move that its composer foresaw back in 2020. But why is the song controversial, and where did it come from? Is the city sleepwalking into enacting mainland…
Explainer: How 3 years of the national security law transformed Hong Kong – Part I
Whilst local authorities promised the security law would only affect a small minority of people, few corners of the city’s social and political landscape have remained untouched by the multi-billion dollar clampdown. From libraries to the legislature, from campuses to the courts – swathes of the city’s public and private spheres have faced a major…
‘The damage has already been done’: Hong Kong journalist Bao Choy on winning a battle but not the war
After leaving Hong Kong’s top court on a warm June morning, Bao Choy was overwhelmed by a mixture of jubilation and sadness. Embroiled in a legal battle since 2020, the veteran journalist had just won an unexpected victory when the Court of Final Appeal quashed her conviction for making false statements linked to accessing vehicle…