Beijing trying to curb press freedom, says AM730 founder Shih Wing-ching
AM730 founder accuses Beijing of trying to curb freedom of press, as Ming Pao saga rumbles on
The founder of a free newspaper says advertisers are backing away from the daily because of its editorial stance, in the latest example of pressure on press freedom in the city.
Shih Wing-ching, the founder of AM730, accused Beijing of trying to curb press freedom in Hong Kong. "Beijing will try to shrink the press freedom of Hong Kong all around, as they have lost [out] in the city's public opinion since the handover," Shih told Commercial Radio yesterday.
The news from AM730 comes as staff of the Chinese-language newspaper Ming Pao decry the decision to replace its chief editor Kevin Lau Chun-to as a threat to editorial independence.
Shih said three of the city's four Chinese-language free sheets - Headline Daily, Sky Post and Metro Daily - were pro-Beijing or had Beijing ties, leaving AM730 next in line to face suppression. "I thought it would be time for me [to earn money] after the shutdown of [Next Media's] Sharp Daily. But no, it is time for me [to be suppressed]," he said.
Meanwhile, founding chairman of the Democratic Party, Martin Lee Chu-ming, left his legal column in Ming Pao blank yesterday, to voice his anger at the decision to remove Lau. The headline read: "With black hands covering the sun and moon, the newspaper has lost its light."