Asia Society says ‘judgment error’ led to event ban on student activist Joshua Wong
Executive director Alice Mong says she takes full responsibility, but Wong’s party says damage has already been done
“As executive director, I am responsible for everything that happens at our centre – including this current incident. The error in judgment lies with me,” she wrote in an email.
Mong blamed “an error in judgment at the staff level”.
PEN Hong Kong, a charity which promotes literature and freedom of expression, had told the Post that it was Mong who made the decision and that she stood by it despite objections during a meeting in early June.
Sarah Schafer, an executive committee member of PEN Hong Kong, added that Mong had always been very supportive of the group and that it welcomed Friday’s statement reaffirming Asia Society’s commitment to free speech.
The latest development came two days after the Post originally reported on the ban which led to widespread concerns about censorship.
US congressman Chris Smith, who co-chairs the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, earlier slammed the Asia Society.
Wong, whose essay “My Journey as a Student Activist” was one of the pieces included in the anthology of fiction, poetry and graphic art about Hong Kong since the 1997 handover, was among the seven contributors who agreed to give a reading and to participate in a question-and-answer session.
PEN Hong Kong’s executive committee refused to accept Mong’s condition and moved the event to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong.
Last year, the Asia Society called off a screening of a documentary about the 2014 Occupy movement at its Hong Kong centre.
