Fears over erosion of Hong Kong press freedom as Beijing flexes muscle

Hong Kong’s status as a bastion of press freedom is being eroded by creeping self-censorship under pressure from Beijing and media bosses loath to lose business in China, insiders are warning.

Compared to the tightly-controlled state press on China’s mainland, Hong Kong’s newsstands and networks offer a noisy jungle of competing outlets from across the political spectrum.

But analysts warn that reputation is now under threat as journalists increasingly steer clear of topics that could anger the Communist Party or jeopardise media tycoons’ commercial interests on the mainland.

Two reports this week have highlighted an increasingly restricted media landscape some 17 years after the former British colony was handed back to China, under a deal that supposedly guaranteed media independence and other rights for half a century.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Wednesday said media freedom in Hong Kong was currently “at a low point”, citing self-censorship among reporters, financial and physical threats against the media and legislative steps that could hinder investigative reporting.