The #HongKong foreign press club scrapped its annual human rights awards on Monday citing fears it could be prosecuted for crossing "new red lines" as #Beijing stamps out dissent in the international business hub. france24.com/en/live-news/2…
The decision has triggered a row within the Foreign Correspondents' Club Hong Kong (FCCHK) and sparked resignations from within its press freedom committee, four people with knowledge of the decision told AFP.
"Over the last two years, journalists in Hong Kong have been operating under new 'red lines' on what is and is not permissible, but there remain significant areas of uncertainty and we do not wish unintentionally to violate the law," club president Keith Richburg said.
The following day eight members of the club's press freedom committee resigned in protest.
"The fact eight of us resigned speaks volumes about the fact we now think our function is useless," Shibani Mahtani, one of the committee members who quit -- and who also helped judge the awards -- told AFP.
"I just think we should be real and intellectually honest about what we're seeing in Hong Kong instead of pretending things are normal and that we're still able to be a genuine press club," she added.
Tensions within the press freedom committee were already high this month after the FCCHK's board vetoed a statement expressing concern about the arrest of veteran journalist Allan Au -- a contributor to Stand News -- for sedition.
"By censoring statements and ending the awards the club is not only failing to uphold this mission but risks being used as a prop to keep up the myth that things in Hong Kong are carrying on as normal," said @TMclaughlin3.
The FCCHK said it intends "to continue promoting press freedom in Hong Kong while recognising that recent developments might also require changes to our approach".
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