Claims that a newspaper twisted an opinion piece by a respected commentator so badly that it said almost the opposite of what he intended - and appeared to back chief executive candidate Leung Chun-ying - have increased concerns that Beijing is meddling in election coverage.
Veteran China watcher Johnny Lau Yui-siu's commentary for the Chinese-language daily Sing Pao was intended to be a rejection of both leading candidates, Leung and Henry Tang Ying-yen.
But it ran under the headline: 'Out of the two, [I] would rather choose Leung Chun-ying'.
In an open letter to the media yesterday, Lau said he felt the influence of 'an invisible hand', prompting local media to engage in self-censorship.
Lawmaker Miriam Lau Kin-yee, of the Liberal Party, also complained Sing Pao refused to run a comment piece in which she explained her party's intention to cast blank ballots after losing faith in Tang, rather than voting for Leung.
It had been due to run yesterday, but was replaced with a piece by a social worker about consumer rights.
Lau said: 'The issue is [about] more than twisting my article. My concern is that more and more media are exercising self-censorship to please Beijing and that it seems the media are starting to get used to it.