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Mainland China ideological crackdown hits Hong Kong, says Journalists Association

Union decries trend of local media outlets being “occupied” by people close to Beijing

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Journalists Association chairwoman Sham Yee-lan expresses concern over press freedom. Photo: Dickson Lee

Beijing’s tightening of ideological control has spilled across the border and threatens Hong Kong’s press freedom, according to an annual report citing the bookseller controversy as the “most blatant example” of this.

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The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) also decried the trend of local media outlets being “occupied” by people close to Beijing.

The 32-page report, titled One Country, Two Nightmares, covered major incidents in local media over the past year, including the closure of Asia Television and the University of Hong Kong seeking an injunction to bar journalists from revealing details of its governing council meetings.

HKJA chairwoman Sham Yee-lan said her group saw the Causeway Bay Books case as the most blatant attack on speech and press freedoms in the city.

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“The press will be frightened off from writing or publishing stuff that may be deemed as being unacceptable to China,” Sham said.

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