Hong Kong news channel ‘censors’ interview with June 4 activist, omits mention of national security law
蘋果日報 2020/06/06 12:54
A Hong Kong pay-TV news channel was found to have cut out key footage of an interview with a prominent Chinese activist when she mentioned the controversial national security law that has caused recent unrest in the city.
On Thursday, i-Cable News aired an interview with Zhang Xianling, one of the founders of Tiananmen Mothers, an advocacy group comprising relatives and friends of victims of the June 4 crackdown in 1989. Zhang, whose teenage son was fatally shot by soldiers, expressed concerns over Hong Kong’s new national security legislation accused of allowing authorities to falsely charge citizens of subversion of state power.
In the original interview, Zhang recalled how, on the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen protests, state security officers tried to charge her with subversion for possessing T-shirts sent from her counterparts in Hong Kong with words “Tiananmen Mothers” and “1989-2004” on. Zhang was released and the charge dropped following international condemnation of her detention.
Zhang’s interview was part of a three-minute report that originally appeared across i-Cable News’ platforms, including its mobile app, website and its China desk Facebook page. The report was later replaced with an edited version that omitted some of her comments regarding the security legislation. The report was later edited again to remove all mentions by Zhang about the law.
While a written article accompanying the video still bore the headline featuring Zhang’s concerns over the abuse of the new law, all her comments about the security legislation had been removed from the body text.
The decision to re-edit Zhang’s interview is said to have come from Fung Tak-hung, who was appointed executive director of i-Cable News in March 2019.
Last year, Apple Daily reported that the i-Cable news team vehemently objected to Fung’s request to delay a special report on the 30th anniversary of the June 4 crackdown. In March this year, the Facebook page of the i-Cable Finance Info Channel published a satirical post about China Mobile’s drop in users during the height of the coronavirus outbreak when China was accused of hiding the true extent of the pandemic and its death toll. According to reports, the post was taken down on Fung’s request and the staff who put it up was let go.
When asked about the edits made to Zhang’s interview, Fung did not confirm whether or not he made the decision but denied self-censorship, saying that it was common practice for news platforms to broadcast different versions of the same report. The channel’s communications department also pointed out that the public could always access different versions of reports across i-Cable News’ platforms and said that the channel has always been committed to bringing the truth to viewers.
On Thursday, i-Cable News aired an interview with Zhang Xianling, one of the founders of Tiananmen Mothers, an advocacy group comprising relatives and friends of victims of the June 4 crackdown in 1989. Zhang, whose teenage son was fatally shot by soldiers, expressed concerns over Hong Kong’s new national security legislation accused of allowing authorities to falsely charge citizens of subversion of state power.
In the original interview, Zhang recalled how, on the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen protests, state security officers tried to charge her with subversion for possessing T-shirts sent from her counterparts in Hong Kong with words “Tiananmen Mothers” and “1989-2004” on. Zhang was released and the charge dropped following international condemnation of her detention.
Zhang’s interview was part of a three-minute report that originally appeared across i-Cable News’ platforms, including its mobile app, website and its China desk Facebook page. The report was later replaced with an edited version that omitted some of her comments regarding the security legislation. The report was later edited again to remove all mentions by Zhang about the law.
While a written article accompanying the video still bore the headline featuring Zhang’s concerns over the abuse of the new law, all her comments about the security legislation had been removed from the body text.
The decision to re-edit Zhang’s interview is said to have come from Fung Tak-hung, who was appointed executive director of i-Cable News in March 2019.
Last year, Apple Daily reported that the i-Cable news team vehemently objected to Fung’s request to delay a special report on the 30th anniversary of the June 4 crackdown. In March this year, the Facebook page of the i-Cable Finance Info Channel published a satirical post about China Mobile’s drop in users during the height of the coronavirus outbreak when China was accused of hiding the true extent of the pandemic and its death toll. According to reports, the post was taken down on Fung’s request and the staff who put it up was let go.
When asked about the edits made to Zhang’s interview, Fung did not confirm whether or not he made the decision but denied self-censorship, saying that it was common practice for news platforms to broadcast different versions of the same report. The channel’s communications department also pointed out that the public could always access different versions of reports across i-Cable News’ platforms and said that the channel has always been committed to bringing the truth to viewers.
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