HK Journalist Sacked for Advocating Press Freedom

Journalist Cheng suddenly became the story when she was fired

The voices of international press groups are increasing in volume in condemning The Wall Street Journal for sacking Selina Cheng after she was voted as the new chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association.

Groups such as the Asian chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, Reporters Without Borders, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents' Club, Canada-based Media Action Plan and Women Press Freedom voiced their support for Cheng, that journalists should be allowed to advocate for press freedom.

"Journalists must be able to join and lead press organisations that are committed to defending media freedom without facing intimidation or retaliation," said the AAJA in a statement shared on social media.

Cheng read out her statement on Wednesday

"As pressure grows against foreign and domestic media in #HongKong, the need for international support to independent journalists still working in the territory is more important than ever," said Reporters Without Borders on X, formerly Twitter.

Cheng told reporters she was sacked on Wednesday after a senior editor flew in from the UK to tell her in person that her job had been eliminated due to restructuring. But she believed the real reason was related to her supervisor's request three weeks ago for her to withdraw from the election for the chair of the HKJA, a trade union for journalists that advocates for press freedom.

She said in a statement that her supervisor asked her to quit the association's board, which she has served since 2021. After she refused, she was told "it will be incompatible" with her job.

"The editor said employees of the Journal should not be seen as advocating for press freedom in a place like Hong Kong, even though they can in Western countries, where it is already established," said Cheng, who was elected the new chair in June.

"I am disappointed if these editors abroad have come to think press freedom is a controversial issue, as those who wish to intimidate reporters might like us to believe," she said. "It is not."

WSJ is still supporting Evan Gershkovich

While Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal confirmed restructuring had taken place, it claimed to still advocate for press freedom in Hong Kong and around the world.

Cheng pointed out the company was still pushing for the release of one of her colleagues, Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained for over a year in Russia accused of spying for the CIA.

"This is why I am deeply shocked that senior editors at the paper would actively violate their employees' human rights, by preventing them from advocating for freedoms the Journal's reporters rely on to work, in a place where journalists and their rights are under threat," wrote Cheng.

Indeed -- why this double standard? And why is WSJ and Dow Jones aiding the government's agenda of shutting down voices of opposition and dissent? It just puts not only the WSJ but also Hong Kong journalists in general in an even weaker position. 

What a bizarre way to start her new position -- being fired days later by her day job, but Cheng has already shown her courage and determination to fight. If anything she makes her former employer look like a coward.