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China’s Leash on Hong Kong Tightens, Choking a Broadcaster

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RTHK, a government-funded news organization, has a fierce independent streak that has long angered the authorities.
Hong Kong’s public broadcaster has long been a rare example of a government-funded news organization operating on Chinese soil that fearlessly attempts to hold officials accountable.
The broadcaster, Radio Television Hong Kong, dug into security footage last year to show how the police failed to respond when a mob attacked protesters in a train station, leading to widespread criticism of the authorities. The broadcaster also produced a three-part documentary on China’s crackdown on Muslims in Xinjiang. One RTHK journalist, Nabela Qoser, became famous in Hong Kong for her persistent questioning of top officials.
Now, RTHK’s journalists and hard-hitting investigations appear vulnerable to China’s new national security law, which takes aim at dissent and could rein in the city’s largely freewheeling news organizations. The broadcaster, modeled on the British Broadcasting Corporation, has already been feeling pressure.
RTHK has drawn fire in recent months from the police, establishment lawmakers and pro-Beijing activists. Its critics have filed thousands of complaints accusing the broadcaster of bias against the government and regularly protest outside its studios.
“If you want to enjoy freedom, you have obligations to follow,” said Innes Tang, the chairman of Politihk Social Strategic, a nonprofit pro-Beijing group that has organized protests and petitions against RTHK. “You cannot use fake news to attack people. That is not part of freedom of expression.”
As the objections mounted, RTHK was forced to suspend a satirical program that made fun of the police. It was criticized by the Hong Kong government for asking the World Health Organization if Taiwan could join the global health body from which Beijing has shut it out. The broadcaster faces a formal government review into its operations starting next week.
The sweeping national security law China imposed last week on Hong Kong is directed at quelling the pro-democracy protest movement that roiled the territory last year, but it also calls for tougher regulation of the media. The worry is that the law would be used to muzzle outlets by requiring publishers and broadcasters to avoid content and discussions that could be seen by the authorities as subversive. The worst-case fear is that RTHK, as a government department, could be forced to become an organ of state propaganda.
The city’s news outlets have faced an onslaught. Reporters covering protests have been pepper-sprayed and detained by the police. Jimmy Lai, the publisher of the Apple Daily, a pro-democracy newspaper, was one of several opposition figures arrested early this year, and state media have accused him of fomenting unrest.
Pro-Beijing lawmakers have urged the government to register journalists.

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