New York Times and BBC denounced for ‘extremely misleading’ articles on law
Hong Kong accused The New York Times and the BBC of running “extremely misleading” articles on the domestic national security legislation, with the city’s “rebuttal mission” rolling on days after the new law came into force.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung yesterday condemned a New York Times opinion piece titled “Hong Kongers are purging the evidence of their lost freedom”, penned by acting China director for Human Rights Watch Maya Wang.
The essay was published in the US newspaper on Tuesday.
“We strongly disapprove of and condemn the extremely misleading opinion piece,” Tang wrote in a letter sent to the paper’s editors. “It is necessary to set the record straight.”
The piece opened with a question on whether keeping old copies of the now-defunct tabloid Apple Daily ran the risk of being caught possessing seditious publications, a long-existing offence that was brought into the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance with more serious penalties. The tabloid’s founder, Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, is on trial over charges of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications, as well as collusion with foreign forces.
Wang said the new legislation expanded on the Beijing-decreed national security law imposed in 2020 and criminalised “vague behaviour” such as possession of information “directly or indirectly useful to an external force”, referring to a clause of the espionage offence.
Tang maintained in the letter that the two pieces of legislation targeted acts endangering national security “with precision”, while law-abiding residents and travellers would not unwittingly violate the ordinance.
The newly passed ordinance also specified that rights and freedoms enshrined in the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, were to be protected, he added.
The security chief also reiterated that a person only committed the possession of seditious publications offence if there was no reasonable excuse.
“Whether a publication has seditious intention has to be determined after all relevant circumstances are taken into consideration,” he said in the letter.
“It is not possible for a person who does not know that the publication concerned has a seditious intention to be convicted.
“We strongly urge The New York Times to ensure that reports concerning Hong Kong are fair and just, and stop making scaremongering remarks.”
In a separate statement, a government spokesman condemned the BBC’s Chineselanguage website for “extremely misleading” coverage on activist Adam Ma Chun-man, who became the first inmate barred from early release under the new law.
A new provision in the prison rules states that an inmate convicted of national security offences will not be granted sentence remission unless the commissioner of correctional services is satisfied it will not compromise national security.
The legislation was enacted last Saturday. It complemented the Beijing-decreed national security law imposed in 2020 and introduced new offences such as theft of state secrets and external interference.