Hong Kong police’s new press accreditation is ‘stupid,’ Jimmy Lai slams
蘋果日報 2020/09/24 18:17
Media tycoon and democracy activist Jimmy Lai said Hong Kong police’s latest move to re-define media under its protocol is akin to implementing a press accreditation system, further turning the city into a police state.
Police now only recognize journalists from “internationally recognized and renowned” foreign outlets or media organizations that are registered with the government information system. The new rules, effective immediately, consider local press passes issued by major journalists' associations invalid.
“This is a stupid policy that damages our freedom of the press and freedom of speech,” said Lai, excoriating the authorities' tightened control over the media on his weekly Twitter Live.
In the age of the internet, even if the police may be able to obstruct student journalists and reporters of online media outlets from reporting, they cannot stop citizens from filming with their phones, said Apple Daily founder.
“Everyone has a phone. When something happens around them, they will automatically become journalists. This is something police cannot change.”
Hosted by Mark Clifford, former editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post, the duo was joined by Thomas Shattuck, a Research Associate in the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
In the discussion of the tripartite relationship between the U.S., Taiwan and China, they noted the recent rise in Taiwan’s international status. They also expected that the U.S. and Taiwan will likely forge closer ties as the presidential election nears.
The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo may even make a diplomatic visit to Taiwan to campaign for President Donald Trump, Lai believed.
Besides state visits, Shattuck said another strategy of the Trump’s administration is to push for a bilateral economic agreement.
Both Shattuck and Lai did not find the U.S. sanctions against Chinese computer chips too late. Lai observed that the sanctions are having an evident effect on Chinese technological sector, both in terms of its research and development as well as the ability to innovate. Lai continued, “Many projects are therefore put on hold.”
Shattuck added that China’s tech sector has long been relying on its Taiwanese and foreign talents. And this is an opportunity for Taiwan to shine and become the leading technological hub in Asia, Lai pointed out.