Right: Hong Kong Journalists Association Chairman Chan Long-sing, who has announced that he will not seek re-election, often stirs up trouble at demonstrations. Left: During the black violence, the Hong Kong Journalists Association issued press cards indiscriminately, allowing “fake journalists” to hinder the police from enforcing the law.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association held its annual general meeting today (22nd) and re-elected its new executive committee. However, the association recently claimed that some members received WhatsApp messages from unknown sources, saying that the general meeting might be monitored by law enforcement agencies and reminding them to “keep their distance” from the meeting. When meeting the media yesterday, Secretary for Security Chris Tang emphasized that anyone who feels threatened can call the police. He pointed out that although the association is “an unrecognized organization”, it is protected by law because it is registered under Hong Kong law.
Some politicians and industry insiders pointed out that the Journalists Association is nominally a journalists union organization, but in reality it has long been politically motivated and has long been notorious. Most of the candidates now are foreign media reporters, or even non-reporters. Rather than lingering on, it is better to disband it as soon as possible. \Ta Kung Pao reporter Gong Xueming
The Hong Kong Journalists Association held its annual general meeting today and re-elected the new executive committee. Current director and Wall Street Journal reporter Cheng Ka-ju and freelance journalist Leung Yiu-chung became the only candidates for chairman and vice-chairman respectively. Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung responded to the Hong Kong Journalists Association members who claimed to have received warning messages yesterday, saying that the Hong Kong Journalists Association is registered under Hong Kong law and anyone who participates will be protected by law. He mentioned the Hong Kong Journalists Association’s election, criticized the Hong Kong Journalists Association for disqualifying a candidate who said he wanted to reform the Hong Kong Journalists Association, and questioned the candidate’s resume.
The candidate’s organization is suspected of anti-China and Hong Kong chaos
Deng Bingqiang once again criticized the Journalists Association, saying that during the 2019 black violence, they claimed that everyone was a journalist and were on the same side as the rioters. In the recent general election, some people also accused the Journalists Association of operating in secret. Deng Bingqiang said: “I also noticed that among the candidates, at first glance, I thought it was the Foreign Correspondents Club, because most of them were journalists from foreign media. Some were freelance journalists, and some were not even journalists; his organization was once revealed to have received money from the United States and was mainly engaged in some political activities in Hong Kong.”
In this year’s election of the Executive Committee of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, two candidates are “public relations members”, including Zhang Haoming, a senior policy advisor at Justice Centre Hong Kong, an organization concerned with refugee rights, and Wang Jing, operations director of Up Media. Looking up the information, one of the candidates, Zhang Haoming, belongs to Justice Centre Hong Kong, which was reported in 2022 as “anti-China and disrupting Hong Kong”, and it was said that the organization had received funding from the “National Endowment for Democracy (NED)”, which is an organization that assists “anti-government groups” in other countries and regions to launch “color revolutions”.
Hong Kong Island East Legislative Council member Leung Hei said that the Hong Kong Journalists Association issued press cards indiscriminately during the black violence, claiming that everyone was a journalist. As a result, a 12-year-old student was conducting so-called interviews at the front line of the conflict, actually obstructing the police from enforcing the law. He just happened to hold a membership card issued by the Hong Kong Journalists Association. He continued that now that the new executive committee of the Hong Kong Journalists Association has been re-elected, most of them are foreign media reporters, and some of them even belong to organizations that were revealed to receive money from the United States. The Hong Kong Journalists Association has long lost its recognition and credibility, and will sooner or later come to an end.
The abuse of press credentials leads to smear campaign against the government
Chen Zhihao, the chief vice chairman of the Hong Kong Youth Current Affairs Commentators Association, pointed out that the Journalists Association is notorious and has repeatedly used the identity of journalists to carry out anti-China and Hong Kong-disrupting activities over the years. During the black violence in 2019, the Journalists Association took the lead in smearing the government for suppressing press freedom, and even issued press cards indiscriminately to condone fake journalists to hinder the police from enforcing the law. All kinds of bad behaviors not only tarnish the moral mission of media workers, but also seriously endanger national security, which is really outrageous. The Journalists Association is about to hold a new executive committee election. Rather than lingering on, it is better to disband as soon as possible.
Gao Songjie, chairman of the Hong Kong Internet Celebrity Workers Association, pointed out that the Journalists Association has long lost its recognition and credibility in the minds of Hong Kong citizens. The Journalists Association has always been “selling dog meat under the guise of sheep”. Since the return to China, it has constantly instigated the media industry to abuse press freedom and do whatever it wants to attack the government. He continued: “As the chairman of the Hong Kong Internet Celebrity Workers Association, I fully understand that the function of a trade union should be to safeguard the rights and interests of the industry, and it should treat everyone equally. But what is hateful is that many patriotic journalists were repeatedly treated roughly by thugs in 2019, and were surrounded and even beaten many times. Why has the Journalists Association never condemned it?” Most of the candidates for the Journalists Association election are foreign media reporters, freelance journalists or even non-journalists. This is even more absurd, and it makes citizens feel that they are suspected of colluding with foreign forces. I hope the relevant departments will pay close attention.