Ordinary Hongkongers can take photos near ‘prohibited places’: authorities
Government says visitors welcome to take photos for leisure purposes, after journalist reportedly threatened with arrest at off-limits site
Members of the public are allowed to take pictures near “prohibited places” belonging to Beijing’s national security office in Hong Kong, authorities have said, after a journalist was reportedly stopped from photographing the locations.
“There is no problem for members of the public to purely ‘check in’ and take photos near a prohibited place while passing by without any intention of endangering national security,” the government said on Friday morning.
The phrase “check in” is a literal translation of a Chinese term used on social media for sharing a photo online of a place that someone is visiting.
But the government said law enforcement officers could order someone to leave a restricted area if that person “deliberately” recorded footage of the entrances or the interior of a prohibited place.
People would also be told to leave if their behaviour gave officers “reasonable grounds” to believe they posed a threat to national security, it said.
The government said anyone who contravened such an order would be committing an offence. Authorities did not specifically address whether members of the press would be given any special treatment.
The statement was issued after local media reported a photojournalist had been threatened with arrest on Thursday after trying to take pictures of a prohibited location.