Defending Reporters In Hong Kong

The right of reporters to do their job and the fundamental importance of the work they do are guiding principles of Caffeinated Politics. It is not enough for anyone to pick up the newspaper off the front steps of their home and think they are doing enough to promote the work of journalists. We all need to be mindful that the trend of intimidation against journalists is gaining steam.

Today that fact is reported from Hong Kong.

Citizen News, a small online news site in Hong Kong known for its in-depth coverage of courts and local politics, said it would stop publishing on Monday night, deepening concerns about the collapse of the city’s once-robust media.

Just days earlier, another independent online media outlet, Stand News, closed after hundreds of police raided its offices and arrested seven people. Two former senior editors at Stand News and the publication itself were charged with conspiracy to publish seditious materials.

The latest closures are the final chapters in the demise of independent media in Hong Kong, a city that once had some of the freest and most aggressive news media in Asia. Now, as Beijing continues a sweeping crackdown on the city, the journalists who once covered the city’s protests and politics are increasingly either under arrest or out of work, without anywhere to publish.

“What’s happening is not just another closure of a media outlet,” said Lokman Tsui, a former journalism professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “This is part of a larger project by the government of dismantling all critical media, of all independent media in Hong Kong.”

Let us be clear about what is at stake. The reporters and press in Hong Kong are able to help maintain the city’s endowed civil liberties, including rule of law and free speech. That is in very sharp contrast to China’s tightly controlled press and lack of open and accessible reporting and distribution of information to the citizenry. 

That fight has been a losing one over the past year, but that does not mean the international resolve should cease at pressing China on their totalitarian actions and dismal record on press freedom.

And so it goes.

Jimmy Lai Must Be Supported

This blog has been critical of the Trump administration for not being far more vocal and proactive concerning a required denunciation of China’s repressive handling of Hong Kong following pro-democracy efforts in that city. Now there is another high-profile reason for the international community to be engaged as a well-regarded advocate for change is being threatened.

While most of the world was welcoming the New Year Hong Kong’s highest court revoked media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s bail after prosecutors succeeded in asking the judges to send him back to detention. That was not only dreadful, but also telling in how far mainland China will go to further its reach and power.

Lai had been granted bail on December 23 after three weeks in custody on charges of fraud and endangering national security. The court said last week that it was “reasonably arguable” that the previous judge’s decision was erroneous and that the order of granting bail was invalid.

Here is the rub, however. Lai is among a string of pro-democracy activists and supporters arrested by Hong Kong police in recent months as authorities step up their crackdown on dissent in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. The Chinese state-owned newspaper People’s Daily posted a strongly worded commentary criticizing the court for granting bail to Lai, stating that it “severely hurt Hong Kong’s rule of law.”

The legal system in Hong Kong was always seen as a buttress in support of the fragile components of that city’s cling to democratic ideals. Should China erode and damage that system, as it is making every effort to do, it would be a most dreadful outcome for the ones who have fought so hard for a better future there.

The charge of collusion with a foreign country or external elements to endanger national security carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Should Lai be taken to the mainland for prison his life might very well be over.

The world community should step up and make sure the abuses being fostered by China are not only called out, but demands must be made for them to be reversed.

All COVID Newscasts Underserving America

If one only receives their news via the evening broadcasts from the three main networks it is most likely there is no awareness about a long list of international events that are shaping regions of the world.  I am clearly aware of the enormity of the COVID-19 pandemic and the many tentacles it has on all parts of the nation.  I am also aware of the need to report and juggle events within the roughly 22 minutes allotted for the nightly broadcasts.  But it also goes without saying that news programming needs to adapt during this time of pandemic so the events from Poland to Hong Kong also get covered.

If everyone read a morning newspaper there would be less reason to find concern about the absence from ABC, CBS, or NBC about events that not only impact large swaths of the world but also impact international policy decisions our nation is then required to make.  A well-informed citizenry aids in shaping our national discussion on the issues which our leaders will then be offering a response.

I wrote about the actions nations like China, North Korea, and Iran have been undertaking over the past months, as they hoped a pandemic and the lack of ability from our president would allow them to get away with their long-held desires.  In April I summed up a post entry with these two paragraphs.

There is  no doubt that international players are watching the United States very closely as this pandemic takes hold of the country.  They are most conscious about the lack of leadership exhibited from this White House.  It is troubling to see so many rogue players and confrontational nations seeming to wish to take moves that run counter to international norms.

While there is a lack of credible leadership in the White House there will be those who take advantage of the existing circumstances. At the fringes that is what we are seeing play out on the world stage. It is not something we can dismiss, and it is not something that the television news media in this nation should fail to report.  We need to be aware of international events, even during a pandemic.

A most draconian national security law imposed by Beijing has left Hong Kong in a most perilous position.  Those living in the city can now be jailed for life for vaguely defined laws.  What China deems “subversive” can mean not only a citizen of the city can be forced to the mainland for trial but jailed for decades over the most bizarre of reasons.

A truly important election is taking place this weekend in Poland, where the outcome could signal the beginning of the end of right-wing and illiberal democratic governments in Eastern Europe. (Illiberal democracy is a topic of importance on CP)  Those who follow the trend lines over the past years can attest to the dangerous outcomes for democracy when the press is vilified, courts turn out rulings dictated by oppressive rulers, and human rights are tossed aside like old bread.  Warsaw Mayor Trzaskowski is seeking to remove the right-wing incumbent President Duda.   The outcome is vital to the international tide of democracy that needs restoration.

If a news story on a major network started out with the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, when completed, being nearly twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty and as wide as the Brooklyn Bridge is long or that the reservoir behind it is roughly the size of London, viewers would pay attention. Once operating the dam will be the largest hydro-electric project in Africa.  It will produce 6,000 megawatts of electricity, but a massive dispute with Egypt and Ethiopia and Sudan has prompted threats of war and concerns about a future conflict over water resources under pressure because of climate change.

The world is filled with these types of news stories that we need to know about and with newspapers and newsmagazines, many people are better informed.  But there is a huge swath of the public who rely upon television network news for their source of information.  And that demographic is not prone to tune in to PBS’ NewsHour.  So it is incumbent that the three main networks find a better use of the time allotted to them in the evening.

Increasing the length of their national newscast is not an option due to the importance of local advertisers to affiliates around the nation.  Going without advertisers on the national broadcast would add about 8 minutes of content.  If there would be just a cold opening without a playlist of upcoming stories, and also jettisoning the ‘feel good’ story at the end of each broadcast would add at least 3 minutes of airtime for actual news content.

There must be a better way to inform those who tune in to the evening broadcasts and rely on it for most of their knowledge about the world. The recent past underscores why there needs to be a better-informed citizenry, which then allows for a better performing electorate.

And so it goes.

We Stand With Hong Kong Protesters

I suspect much of the world is thinking of people in Hong Kong, and urging for their success, as the news shows a deepening of the political crisis. It’s the 22nd anniversary of the return of the former British colony to China, and new power plays are being used by China to the detriment of the people in Hong Kong.  This blogging desk is foursquare in the corner of those who are fighting for their rights as this post is written.

Hong Kong is exploding with protests as tens of thousands of residents fed up with China’s increasing erosion of their democratic freedoms have taken to the streets and clashed with riot police.  Some smashed through metal barriers and glass doors and windows at the Legislature’s building to gain entry; thousands of others are marching.

The Hong Kong hospital authority said it had treated 54 people following today’s protests. Three people are reportedly in a serious condition.

The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), the organizers of the main protest march downtown, and pan-democratic lawmakers say Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam has rejected their approach for talks to end the crisis. CHRF has reissued its call for Lam to step down.

There were promises made in 1997 to the Hong Kong people and the roughshod treatment of those promises must not continue.  The people know their government is a puppet of Beijing.  The effort from President Xi to have Hong Kong authorities repress the people must be called out for what it is.

An authoritarian effort to squash the rights of those who have tasted democracy and do not wish to retreat to the constraints of Communism.

The world needs to demand China to cease at once their outrageous behavior.

And so it goes.