Of the many threats to press freedom in Hong Kong – from the blunt force of riot police on the streets, to the relentless “lawfare” now waged on journalists and the corrosive effect of National Security Law (NSL) – the concerted attacks on Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) might be the most disturbing.

While local press, including Apple Daily, provide a vital voice amid the relentless propagandizing from the pro-Beijing noisemakers, and foreign media outlets can at times provide an outside perspective that cuts through the din, RTHK is a backbone of quality local journalism in both Chinese and English – written, spoken and broadcast – with a combination of hard-graft reporting, clear-minded analysis, all peppered with occasional satirical sucker punches.

Last Friday a British All-Party Parliamentary Group meeting gave three journalists – including myself and two locally-based members of the press – a chance to speak to British lawmakers on the ongoing threats to Hong Kong’s press freedoms.

Not surprisingly, and even though NSL was a recurring theme, we all turned to the battles RTHK face – which have included reporters being charged with petty crimes in order to curtail their work, the effects of an “Internal review” on editorial independence and most recently, disturbing instances of censorship.

It is of no consolation to the dedicated professionals who work at RTHK – who are now subject to pressures from political forces from outside and face bureaucratic hurdles within – but the targeted attacks and pressure on RTHK are in some ways a mark of respect; a tacit acknowledgment that fearless journalism is an antidote to authoritarianism.

Just as the government sees Hong Kong’s judicial independence as an obstacle to complete control, a free press – and specifically RTHK, the vanguard of investigative reporting at a local level and one of the last remaining checks and balances in place for the Hong Kong government – are in its sights.

The arrest of RTHK producer Choy Yuk-ling, known as Bao Choy, in November 2019 was the first salvo fired in what has clearly become a long-standing war against RTHK – which is government-funded but with a charter that is meant to ensure editorial autonomy.

Bao Choy’s painstaking forensic work produced a riveting and crucial piece of work for the program “Hong Kong Connection” investigating the Yuen Long attacks on commuters in July 2019. The report still stands as the most detailed record of one of the darkest days in Hong Kong history and a turning point in the public’s trust in the police and government.

Bao Choy pleaded not guilty and her case is pending and has been sidelined from work on the program, a move she has described as “a double blow.”

When a government-driven, months-long review of RTHK was released in February it signaled a significant overhaul of the news outlet and coincided with the appointment of Patrick Li – a lifelong bureaucrat from the Home Affairs Department with no media experience – to replace veteran journalist Leung Ka-wing as director of broadcasting.

RTHK’s Progamme Staff Union expressed serious doubts about Li’s appointment and called it an obvious attempt to replace journalism with bureaucracy.

Based on recent events, those fears seem well-founded.

Last week Li declared an episode of popular culture and life series “Hong Kong Stories” featuring rap group LMF scrapped because he deemed their songs “indecent.” An episode featuring interviews with novelist Chiang Hiu-mei and photographer Jimmy Lam was also pulled.

The abrupt removal of an episode of “Legco Review” from programming and the RTHK website days later was even more disturbing, given that speakers with moderate pro-Beijing stances were due to appear and discuss recent electoral reforms. One of the guests that appeared on the scrapped program was former policy director of the pro-Beijing New People’s Party Derek Yuen, who posted on Facebook that it seems RTHK is banning even those with “light blue, moderate and yellow” views.

The trend is clear – RTHK is being eyed off as yet another CCP(Chinese Communist Party) propaganda mouthpiece. The recent move to replace BBC World Service’s overnight broadcast from 11pm to 7am each day was another sign of the squeeze.

Journalists in Hong Kong already face enough challenges from an unaccountable and malicious police force, and the insidious fear caused by NSL, which makes gaining on-the-record and the protection of sources increasingly difficult. The NSL has also been used directly against journalists, most recently former reporter Gwyneth Ho.

It might not be long before NSL doesn’t just make true journalism simply a challenge, but a crime.

The loss of RTHK as the standard bearer for journalism in Hong Kong won’t just be felt within, but throughout the world. The void left by RTHK’s work will be filled with fake news and propaganda as the CCP rewrites recent history with its version of the police as protectors of Hong Kong, protesters as violent aggressors and the CCP as saviors, swooping in to help Hong Kong back to its feet after being ravaged by COVID. These CCP narratives have already infected the world’s overstretched media landscape, and with nobody to shine light on the truth, they will only be amplified without a healthy Hong Kong media environment to hold them in check.

Journalism and media can be a cutthroat business – getting the story first, and being best at telling it is part of the allure – but it is clear that those at RTHK are no longer competitors, but compatriots, and we must do all we can to protect their independence.

(Michael Cox is a journalist and Hong Kong permanent resident currently based in Australia. He has previously written for the South China Morning Post, The Age (Melbourne) and Australian Associated Press.)

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