Hong Kong's press freedoms are "in tatters" as China remoulds the once outspoken business hub in its own authoritarian image, the city's main journalist union said Thursday, adding it feared "fake news" laws were on their way.

"The past year is definitely the worst year so far for press freedom," Ronson Chan, chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), said as the union published its annual report.

The report referenced a cascade of events impacting the press since China imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong last summer to stamp out dissent after huge and often violent democracy protests the year before.

Authors pointed to the jailing of pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai and the freezing of his Apple Daily newspaper's assets -- a move which led to the Beijing-critical tabloid's closure.

More than 700 journalists their jobs while Lai and multiple Apple Daily executives are currently behind bars, charged with trying to undermine China's national security with the contents of the paper's reporting.

HKJA's report also accused authorities of turning the city's public broadcaster RTHK into "a government propaganda apparatus" by sacking critical staff and cancelling current affairs shows.

Accessing public databases was also becoming harder, the report warned, highlighting how one RTHK journalist was convicted for using vehicle license plates for an investigation into a violent attack on pro-democracy supporters by government loyalists.

The government has also sought to restrict journalists from accessing the identities of company owners on the city's registry, a move criticised by financial transparency groups.

"Suppression from the authorities is felt across different forms of media," the report warned. "Freedoms have seriously deteriorated under a repressive government."

Chan said he feared further legislation was now in the works to restrict the media.

Top officials and pro-Beijing lawmakers in Hong Kong have called for "fake news" laws, something activists fear will be used against coverage authorities dislike.

"There are already many knives hanging over journalists' heads like laws against sedition and incitement so we do not need one more named a fake news law," Chan said.

Hong Kong has plunged down an annual press freedom ranking by Reporters Without Borders, from 18th place in 2002 to 80th this year.

Mainland China languishes at 177th out of 180, above only Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea.

Multiple international media companies have regional headquarters in Hong Kong, attracted to the business-friendly regulations and free speech provisions written into the city's mini-constitution.

But many local and international outlets are questioning whether they have a future there.

Hong Kong police raid top university in security law probe
Hong Kong (AFP) July 16, 2021 - Hong Kong's national security police on Friday raided buildings at the city's top university after its student leaders paid tribute to a man who stabbed a policeman.

Anti-police sentiment has been running high in Hong Kong, a deeply polarised city since huge, often violent pro-democracy protests that took place in 2019.

On July 1 a lone attacker knifed a police officer in a busy shopping district before taking his own life in what authorities labelled an act of "domestic terrorism".

Officials warned people against mourning the attacker, saying any memorials amounted to "advocating violence, inciting hatred and beautifying attacks".

But the student union council at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) expressed "deep sadness" at the man's death in a statement, which prompted officials to call for action against the body.

Dozens of police officers with suitcases and boxes arrived at the university on Friday afternoon and searched buildings housing the student union, campus TV station and undergraduate office.

"The police is investigating a case related to advocating terrorism and searched our studio," Kong Chak-ho, chairperson of the campus TV station told reporters.

A spokesperson for HKU confirmed that "police have entered the campus to investigate a case with a court order" and the university was "obliged to act in compliance".

The student union council last Friday withdrew its motion expressing sympathy for the attacker and apologised but the backlash has been unrelenting.

Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam, who is also the university's chancellor, on Tuesday called on HKU's management as well as police to look into the motion for any violation of the law.

She called the resolution by the student union council "infuriating" and said she was "ashamed".

HKU has severed ties with its own student union while the chairman of the university's governing council said he would welcome any investigation by national security authorities.

It is not the first time police have entered a university campus in Hong Kong as part of an investigation under the city's national security law.

Last November, officers arrested at least nine people on suspicion of threatening national security after an on-campus demonstration featuring slogans that authorities have declared illegal.

China imposed the sweeping security law on Hong Kong last year to wipe out dissent after the financial hub was rocked by huge and often violent democracy protests.

More than 100 people, including many of the city's best known democracy advocates, have been arrested under the law.

Related Links
Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com

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