Bertha Wang/AFP via Getty Images
Radio Free Asia, which is funded by the U.S. government, said it was closing its Hong Kong operations due to concerns about the safety of staff and reporters. This comes after Hong Kong enacted a tough new national security law, known locally as Article 23.
Bay Fang, president of Radio Free Asia, said in a statement Friday that the outlet's programming and content would continue without interruption.
But Hong Kong authorities' actions, including referring to the RFA as a “foreign force,” raise serious questions about the RFA's ability to operate safely following the enactment of Article 23, Fang said.
The Beijing-backed city council passed the Article 23 bill earlier this month, adding to the existing national security law the central government imposed on Hong Kong in 2020. Article 23 refers to the Basic Law that is part of Hong Kong's constitution after the handover. In other words, we need territory to enact national security laws.
Apple Daily, Hong Kong's most prominent pro-democracy newspaper, was shut down in June 2021 after its accounts were frozen and publisher Jimmy Lai was arrested. The last pro-democracy newspaper, Stand News, was shut down in December 2021 after it was raided and its leaders arrested.
The new law strengthens the government's arsenal with broad definitions of state secrets and language targeting foreign powers.
RFA is funded by the U.S. Congress but operates with editorial independence. I have been in Hong Kong since 1996.
US imposes visa ban on Hong Kong officials
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department announced Friday that it was banning visas to some Hong Kong officials, citing a crackdown on freedoms.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said China had promised Hong Kong a high level of autonomy, but Beijing had taken several steps last year to crack down on the territory's rights and freedoms.
This includes Article 23, which Blinken said could be used to eliminate dissent within Hong Kong and against critics abroad as part of what he called Chinese transnational repression.
In response, Blinken said the United States was imposing new visa restrictions on “a number” of Hong Kong officials, but the statement did not name them or say how many people would be affected by the move.
When news of the U.S. State Department's annual review was released, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington criticized the U.S. for “ignoring facts, making irresponsible remarks on the Hong Kong issue, and making groundless accusations.”
He insisted that Hong Kong's new national security law be balanced and ensure rights, freedoms and economic growth, and urged the United States to “immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and other internal affairs of China.”