RTHK Reprimanded for WHO Interview

Dr Bruce Alyward during his interview with RTHK on The Pulse

If anyone cares about the fast eroding rights and freedoms of Hong Kong, they deteriorated further today when the government criticized public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong for asking a question about Taiwan to a World Health Organization official.

On March 28, RTHK reporter Yvonne Tong asked Dr Bruce Alyward if the WHO would consider including Taiwan into the organization, as the island had critical information that would have saved more lives in the coronavirus pandemic.

The reporter asks about including Taiwan in the WHO

At first Alyward claimed he could not hear Tong's question and when she repeated it, he immediately shut down the interview.

By the way the Canadian epidemiologist is no longer listed in the WHO website.

For many this exchange proved the cozy relationship between China and the WHO.

When asked to comment on the interview, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, which oversees RTHK, issued a statement this afternoon.

It started off by saying Commerce and Economic Development Secretary Edward Yau Tang-wah had told RTHK it must uphold and abide by its charter, including its mission to foster a sense of citizenship and national identity.

 Yau says RTHK breached "One Country, Two Systems"

"The secretary holds the view that the presentation in that episode of aforesaid programme has breached the One-China Principle and the purposes and mission of RTHK as a public service broadcaster as specified in the charter," the statement goes on to say.

"It is common knowledge that the WHO membership is based on sovereign states. RTHK, as a public government department and a public service broadcaster, should have proper understanding of the above without any deviation. As the Editor-in-Chief of RTHK, the Director of Broadcasting should be responsible for this."

The statement said Yau had once again urged Director of Broadcasting Leung Ka-wing and RTHK to fully abide by the charter and that "they must handle all programmes in a professional and vigilant manner as required of them."

However RTHK rejected the government's allegations, and defended the show called "The Pulse", saying the episode looked at various responses across the world on the coronavirus pandemic, with Taiwan being just part of the program. Also, the island was not described as a "country", but a "place".

RTHK stands by the interview that was aired March 28

"RTHK reviewed the content of the episode and found that it did not violate the "One Country, Two Systems principle, nor did it violate the Radio Television Hong Kong Charter," a spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, a member of RTHK's program advisory panel, Fermi Wong, said she was furious about the government's statement, which she suspected had been issued following pressure from Beijing.

She said the warning had damaged the public broadcaster's editorial autonomy.

"When you look at the interview done by the Pulse reporter, it is about the coronavirus issue, it is about health. I don't really understand why when a reporter is asking something relating to health, she or he has to remember there is 'One Country, Two Systems'... in line with the government or China," she said.

"I believe the government statement may come after some kind of pressure from the Foreign Ministry or the Chinese Communist Party, I don't know why. But I think the statement is the biggest nonsense."

Indeed. Why after five days a statement like this comes out? Someone behind the scenes was furious about the interview and wanted to punish someone for it.

But this warning will only make RTHK journalists and the rest of the media in Hong Kong more determined to defend press freedom in "One Country, Two Systems"...