Questions of Press Freedom during Pandemic

Lam continually thanks the central government for its help

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's daily press briefings have now become a concern for press freedom after a reporter's question led to pro-Beijing figures and media to accuse the journalist of spreading hate speech.

The Now TV reporter asked Lam how Covid-19 patients should lodge complaints over mainland Chinese medical professionals who are working in the city to help battle the fifth wave of the pandemic. The mainland medical staff are in Hong Kong to help alleviate healthcare staff shortages.

This is a legitimate question to ask as these temporary workers are exempted from obtaining local licences under an emergency regulation introduced last month. Typically, patients' complaints are handled through the Medical Council of Hong Kong, the industry's registering body, but it does not have the jurisdiction over these workers. The Hospital Authority said it bore ultimate responsibility for the mainland workers.

Lam greeting hundreds of Chinese healthcare staff

But the reporter's question led to a flurry of criticism from pro-Beijing groups and individuals. One association called Politihk Social Strategic launched an online petition that accused the reporter of spreading hate speech and questioning whether she breached the national security law.

Under Article 29, it is a crime for anyone to provoke hatred among residents "which is likely to cause serious consequences" towards the central or local governments.

The group even called for the reporter to be sacked, which led to fears that press freedom was further being eroded in Hong Kong.

Others who criticised the reporter include former chief executive Leung Chun-ying and pro-Beijing paper Ta Kung Pao.

This led to Now TV issuing an apology on Thursday, saying: "We are deeply sorry for the attention and frustration caused by a question asked by our reporter regarding mainland medical staff."

The company vowed to "humbly listen to" public criticisms and be subject to scrutiny, while continuing to provide updates on the pandemic.

Now TV apologised for the reporter's questions

Now TV even added: "With the fifth wave of the pandemic still raging, we are very grateful for the selfless help from the central government and mainland."

The news outlet is owned by Richard Li Tzar-kai, son of Li Ka-shing, and offered help to combat the pandemic during a meeting chaired by Luo Huining, director of the Beijing liaison office.

However, it should be pointed out the same accountability question of the mainland medical staff was also asked by lawmaker Tang Fei, of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers. 

Media lecturer Grace Leung Lai-kuen said the incident demonstrated the "cultural shock" journalists in Hong Kong were facing as the city became increasingly intertwined with the mainland on many levels.

She said journalists in Hong Kong have always questioned local officials over their responsibilities.

But the mainland side could be struggling to understand why it is still facing scrutiny while having taken the extra step to help the city," she said.

"I would say things are different now if you ask me whether it has undermined press freedom," she said.

Just what we needed -- another level of anxiety to add to our pandemic woes.

Finally a Bit of Progress

Patients waiting outside showed hospitals at overcapacity

Days after Covid-19 patients lay in gurneys in the rainy chilly weather, someone from above ordered them to be moved inside and by this evening they were as temperatures dropped to 9 degrees Celsius this weekend.

Why did it take so long and how come emergency provisions were not made? Are senior government officials blind to what is going on that it finally took today for Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to say something about it?

Lam announced postponement of CE election

It is outrageous that anyone in Hong Kong, old or young, Chinese or not to be treated in this way in this city's healthcare system. It has been ignored for so long regardless of the pandemic that there were shortages of doctors and nurses and now we have scenes of one medical professional attending to 20 patients outside.

The other group of people badly mistreated by the government are foreign domestic helpers. There are cases of some who quit because their employer was too overbearing and then caught Covid, or their employer fired them for being infected with the virus, and these helpers were left with no where to sleep except on the streets. 

When asked what help the Centre of Health Protection could give them, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan basically didn't have an answer except that they should self-isolate before they were contacted... where is the compassion?

This evening Lam said employers should persuade their helpers to stay at home even on their day off, and that this coming weekend the police "will not show mercy anymore".  

Foreign domestic helpers are targeted for fines

Meanwhile on the weekends, police officers target helpers who gather together and hand them fines of HK$5,000 for gathering in more than groups of two. 

Their monthly salary is under HK$5,000 -- how can they even afford to pay these fines?

One woman who is in touch with one or two of these helpers has set up a fundraising page and raised over HK$700,000 in donations to help these women pay these fines. They are unfairly targeted, when there are places in Central where numerous expats meet up drinking alcohol -- why not fine them too?

The inequities of this city were already bad when the pandemic started, but have become more cruel as Covid-19 wears us down day by day.

This evening Lam announced the election for the chief executive would be pushed back from March 27 to May 8 in order to focus on the health crisis at hand. No one was surprised, though a week ago Lam claimed because the election committee only involved just over 1,000 people that the race to pick the next leader would not be interrupted.

Luo held a video meeting with business leaders

But perhaps with Xi Jinping admonishing the local administration for what appears to be a lax effort in battling the virus, Lam has finally made the call to postpone the election.

Today there were 3,629 cases reported, but 7,600 preliminary, and Lam says it will take at least two months to get the fifth wave under control.

Also this afternoon business leaders, or shall we say billionaires had a video conference call with liaison director Luo Huining, who was seeing who could offer what. This was the ultimate exercise in displaying patriotism.

Tycoon Richard Li Tzar-kai, who heads the ViuTV local television channel and the Now TV entertainment platform, announced the 12 members of the popular group Mirror would become "anti-pandemic ambassadors". 

Mirror will be anti-pandemic ambassadors

While New World Development CEO Adrian Cheng Chi-kong said he would free up the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre for community testing purposes, and Peter Lee Ka-kit, co-chairman of the Henderson Land Development, said his group would offer up a 20-hectare site on Lam Kam Road in the New Territories for an "instant" hospital.

Others offered to ramp up the acquisition of rapid antigen tests for low-income people and frontline healthcare staff, and bring in more food and goods into Hong Kong. 

But will this be enough to effectively fight the virus?

Li Ka-shing Exits Stage Right

This afternoon Li Ka-shing (centre) cozies up with reporters for pictures

This afternoon was the earth-shattering announcement we've been waiting for -- tycoon Li Ka-shing is retiring.

In a live broadcast from Cheung Kong Centre, the 89-year-old said after almost seven decades in business, he is stepping down from both CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings and passing the reins to his younger son Victor Li Tzar-kuoi.

This was no surprise, as the younger Li has been working with his father for over 33 years, while older son Richard Li Tzar-kai "has many other businesses".

In a letter to staff that Li addressed them as colleagues, he recalled escaping war-torn China when he was 12 years old and came to Hong Kong. The famous legend of Li selling plastic flowers gave the high school dropout the capital to expand into other businesses, in particular real estate.

Li takes his final bow with son Victor on his right

"Not long afterwards, I founded Cheung Kong, the predecessor of CK Hutchison and CK Asset. That was 1950," he writes. "By 1972 I was able to grow the firm into a publicly-listed company -- stock code 001HK."

Today the conglomerate includes media, hotels, shipping, grocery stores and oil that has dealings in 50 countries.

During his announcement, Li said he would devote time to philanthropy, including the KS-LK Foundation, especially in issues related to healthcare and education.

Li finished his tenure on a high, as the companies, including Power Assets and CKI recorded higher 2017 earnings that largely met market expectations.

However, the tycoon is stepping down at a time when his influence is already waning. In 2013, dock workers went on strike for 40 days, demanding higher pay and better working conditions.

The 2013 dockworkers' strike damaged Li's reputation

At one point they occupied the front entrance of Cheung Kong Centre with a giant picture of Li's face and devil horns coming out of his head. In the end the dockworkers got a 9.8 percent pay rise, but the public's admiration for Li had nosedived because his immense wealth was compared to the lowly dock worker.

Li's reputation further spiraled during the Umbrella Movement a year later when thousands of people occupied the streets in Admiralty, Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mongkok for 79 days. When it first started, the business elite were silent, and then Li finally spoke.

While he said he understood the protesters "passionate pursuits", he believed they should go home, warning them not to "let today's passion become tomorrow's regret". He knew people would be punished, but underestimated that people did not regret their actions, despite the legal challenges the protest leaders in particular faced.

Li was widely admired in China, but he cashed out anyway

And his relationship with China also soured. Despite pouring millions of yuan into the country, in 2015 Li decided to cash out, which angered Chinese state media and many mainlanders, who felt the businessman was being unpatriotic.

Nevertheless, Li won't be completely retiring. While he will continue to stay on as a senior adviser, it seems Li still wants to keep an active role in the businesses.

When a reporter tried to ask Victor Li a question about the company's future investments, his father interrupted as his son was getting the microphone. "I'll answer for him," Li said.

Party Preferences

Speculation turns confirmation as Carrie Lam is backed by Beijing

There are now reports that National People's Congress chairman Zhang Dejiang was in Shenzhen a few days ago to inform Hong Kong's pro-Beijing camp that the Communist Party was backing Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor as the next chief executive of Hong Kong.

And the decision was made on December 25.

Zhang Dejiang made the announcement in Shenzhen

Was she also informed that day, as a Christmas present? And how come their decision was only revealed now?

A source also revealed tycoon Li Ka-shing was present at this meeting, though he and his company representatives did not attend her rally last week. Nevertheless, Li and his two sons, Victor Li Tzar-kuoi and Richard Li Tzar-kai were seen going to the Beijing liaison office in Western on Wednesday.

Interestingly it was stressed the decision to back Lam was a collective one, not one particular official or group of officials.

Also worth noting is that the meeting was not covered in Chinese state media, and one source to a Hong Kong newspaper explained this was so that it would give the party room to manoeuvre in case anything unexpected cropped up.

One of the attendees in Shenzhen was tycoon Li Ka-shing

The unwillingness to let this be a completely fair race (aside from allowing over 3 million people in Hong Kong to vote), shows Beijing still doesn't completely trust 1,194 people in the Election Committee and wants a clear winner in March.

If Beijing can't even trust its most loyal supporters to do the right thing, how is the relationship between Hong Kong and the motherland ever going to mature?

The Dichotomy of Hong Kong

Students occupying the park near the Central Government Offices

Hong Kong students are into their fourth day of protesting and tonight they marched from the Central Government offices at Tamar to Government House, demanding that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying speak to them.

They have been demanding that he speak to them for several days now, and he has avoided any kind of appearance.

As a result the students are angered and yesterday some threatened to "arrest" him.

While they can't make a citizen's arrest, using that kind of language scares some people who want nothing to do with Occupy Central, which seems to be going ahead next Wednesday.

One of the people who told me about the students wanting to "arrest" Leung was a man in his 30s with two young sons I had lunch with, along with a woman who is a professional.

He said that the atmosphere now is like the 1964 riots, where at first the movement seemed benign, but could escalate into something violent. The man said he was worried about the students, saying they were naive and didn't seem to know what they were getting themselves into.

Meanwhile, the woman didn't care much for the movement except that it disrupted deliveries to her office on the east side of Hong Kong island...

The topic quickly moved to emigration, and she asked the man if he was considering leaving Hong Kong.

He said he is, and wondering where to go, though the sacrifice is for his children, not himself. We didn't get into where he was considering going to as the topic changed, but it made me realize there really are at least one in five people in Hong Kong considering leaving the city with what is happening now.

This guy also used to work in the telecom business, though he didn't say which company. He said China Mobile has aggressively moved into the Hong Kong market with much lower subscription fees. And then with the sale of cheap phones like Xiaomi, even more people were lured in to sign up with China Mobile.

And the this state telecommunications carrier combined with PCCW-HKT owned by Richard Li Tzar-kai, son of Li Ka-shing who are pro-Beijing, according to this young father, these two telecom providers have the vast majority of the market, where people do lots of texting and calling.

He says there will come a time when you may not be able to get onto Facebook anymore or other social media, so where are you going to turn to -- texting. And that will be monitored by China.

"It's scary isn't it?" he asked.

Frightening more like it. But then again it's all part of the mainlandization of Hong Kong. Should we be surprised?

On the one hand the city is still moving ahead as if nothing is happening -- celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay was here opening his first restaurant in Hong Kong, Bread Street Kitchen, and then other students are protesting for a greater say in how they choose the city's next leader in 2017.

The dichotomy is so bizarre really -- some people going to work day in, day out -- while others are mobilizing to prepare for Occupy Central.

Things are definitely going to be interesting in the next few days, with the "banquet" less than a week away...

Populist Underdog

We will have to wait and see what HKTV chairman Ricky Wong does next

Move over, Li Ka-shing, there's a new hero in town.

Hong Kongers have found a new underdog to support and it's Ricky Wong Wai-kay, 50, Hong Kong Television Network chairman whose application for a new free-to-air TV license was rejected by the government earlier this week.

Instead it was given to i-Cable's Fantastic Television and PCCW's HK Television Entertainment, both run by established tycoons, Peter Woo Kwong-ching and Richard Li Tzar-kai, son of Li Ka-shing respectively.

In 2009 Wong was encouraged to apply by a senior government official who he refuses to name, and was never told only two licenses would be handed out; nor was Wong's application considered the weakest of the three.

On Tuesday, about 15 minutes before the formal announcement, Wong received a call that his application was rejected without any proper explanation. He then held a press conference in which he voiced his anger, saying the whole decision-making process was opaque and is now seeking a possible judicial review.

After that he gave lay-off notices to 320 of 500 staff effective at the end of this month.

Many of the public were outraged by HKTV's rejected application, and they immediately setup a Facebook page supporting Wong and calling the government to issue HKTV a license. It was also a way for them to show their concern about the government's fairness in its decision. Some 400,000 people liked the page.

And then last night Wong showed up at an open-air forum at Chinese University -- his alma mater -- and was overwhelmed to see some 2,000 students and teachers eager to listen to him.

Reports described Wong as having tears in his eyes to see such strong support that it inspired him to continue to commit himself to creative industries.

Even though there is a protest march organized for this Sunday, Wong said he would not participate. "I can bring more benefits to people as a businessman," he said. "I am not a fighter for democracy."

He then displayed his dry sense of humour. When asked if he would buy ATV, one of the existing free-to-air stations, he replied his preference for buying flats. He said one had to worry about things not working and rats when buying a second-hand flat, which is why he preferred a clean, new one.

Wong also mocked the government, saying, "I don't understand how they do their public relations... they should provide a simple explanation for the rejection and start damage control."

Then a student asked him how he would deal with calls from "grandpa", a nickname for the central government, Wong replied that his grandfather had died many years ago.

When asked whether TVB, the other existing free-to-air station should worry about not having its license renewed, Wong sarcastically said, "TVB's news programs are so good. They shouldn't worry."

Some critics hypothesize Wong didn't get the license because the government feared he would not support it or the central government, while others worried about the erosion of the city's free market.

Nevertheless, Hong Kong people have propped up Wong as its new underdog to root for. To them he stands for justice, creativity and brashness. As long as he keeps fighting, the public will support him.

They are the ones who wanted better TV programs, but it seems the government would rather have more mindless entertainment on the airwaves.