Hong Kong's rule of law cannot endure without free speech
Stephen Vines considers the continuing attacks on the Hong Kong press

It is no exaggeration to say that most of the world was appalled by last week's attacks on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket in Paris. While demonstrations of solidarity were held and lauded by governments in every corner of the globe, here in Hong Kong, a modest and silent display of banners outside the Foreign Correspondent's Club elicited a police warning for "unlawful assembly".
Some 40 nations sent heads of government or other very senior officials to attend the unprecedented mass solidarity rally in Paris last week; China and the US were merely represented by their ambassadors.
The United States now admits this was a mistake while China's official media took another track by witlessly offering comfort to the murderous enemies of press freedom.
A commentary by the Xinhua news agency criticised Charlie Hebdo for having been "both crude and heartless" in its attacks on religion. Adding, " what they seem not to realise is that the world is diverse, and there should be limits on press freedom … Unfettered and unprincipled satire, humiliation and free speech are not acceptable."
There is a reasonable debate to be had over the limits of free speech but, in the wake of a deadly attack, there is little excuse for providing the attackers with succour and comfort. Surely it could have held off lambasting the concept of free media for another day.
Shortly after the events in France, Hong Kong experienced a violent assault on the Next Media group's offices and the home of its major shareholder, Jimmy Lai Chee-ying. This failed to elicit more than a single statement from official sources and less than overwhelming condemnation from the born-again rule-of-law advocates in the anti-democrat camp.
While some members of the pro-government Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong made highly general statements of condemnation over violence, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, the anti-democrat legislator who constantly stresses her affiliations with the police, rushed to get on the airwaves to proclaim that "it was too early to draw any conclusions" about this assault.