SCMP photographer slapped and abused near border
May Tse was taking pictures from a footbridge outside Sheung Shui MTR station when two men rushed up and one slapped her face
Police arrested two men yesterday after a South China Morning Post photographer taking pictures of mainland parallel-goods traders stocking up on milk powder was slapped in the face in a scuffle that left her slightly hurt.
It happened as the shelves of Sheung Shui shops were emptied of milk powder on the day before new curbs on the amount of formula that travellers can take across the border took effect.
May Tse was taking pictures from a footbridge outside Sheung Shui MTR station when two men rushed up from the ground floor and one slapped her face.
The two, along with a few others, shouted foul language at her in a mainland accent and bundled her into a corner for about five minutes, demanding that she delete her pictures. "It's none of your business that we are parallel trading. No pictures," one of the two men said. Others left the scene when police arrived but the two men were arrested.
Post editor-in-chief Wang Xiangwei denounced the attack. "The South China Morning Post condemns violence of any kind against journalists who are carrying out their legitimate and rightful duties," he said. "Journalists play an important role in Hong Kong, a free society ruled by law. Such violence has no place in this city and should not be tolerated."
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It was also condemned by the Hong Kong Journalists Association and Hong Kong Press Photographers Association. "The public should respect press freedom," photographers association chairman Tyrone Siu said. "[Tse] was taking pictures to report on a public issue before a change of the law, about which the general public has every right to be informed."