In a newspaper published in 2013 Xi Jinping soon took power, Hong Kong’s top journalist Yu Pun-hoi he wrote confidently how the new Chinese President should “oppose the dictatorship” and ensure that they “speak freely”.
Eight years later, things would not have turned out that way, especially for former Hong Kong journalists. Yu’s main enemy, anti-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, is in prison and is well-known Apple Daily tabloid newspaper closed. Both were major targets for human rights abuses after anti-government protests rocked Hong Kong in 2019.
Yu, 63, a businessman skilled in the trade-off between being loyal to Beijing and criticizing the Hong Kong government, suddenly approached near the shooting range. The release of Apple Daily, its infamous HK01 page, which is heavily involved in crime and entertainment, is now a well-known gateway in the city.
“The way they portray journalists is not like Jimmy Lai,” said Grace Leung, a lecturer in journalism at a Chinese university in Hong Kong. “They are very similar to the Chinese[elite businessman]. . . HK01 has attempted to become as independent of China but seems to be meddling in politics. ”
Hong Kong media footballers are traditionally seen as part of the begging as the economic center of the world, able to respond to the government in a way that was unthinkable in China.
But since the protests were launched and a security law was enacted last year, the government has tightened its grip on journalists. Aside from the arrest of Lai, it has set up a media channel in RTHK, prominent journalists said fled the city, referring to the “pure fear”, although the government says the freedom of the press has been protected. White supremacy marks decades of dictatorial rule in Taiwan when hundreds of protesters were arrested. Hong Kong protesters have used the phrase to express their fear of retaliation after the 2019 protests.
Since its inception in 2016, HK01 has attracted readers by mixing popular gossip and insulting the local government in Hong Kong with the help of the Beijing government, reflecting the views of independent but ultimately Chinese businessmen who have already dominated the city.
But following a security policy, Beijing is paying little attention to the city’s cultural leaders, perhaps criticizing them for the protests. In the new Hong Kong, experts are questioning whether HK01 could continue with “honest criticism”, or whether the idea of a critique that has helped drive readers away will be eradicated.
Yu started broadcasting in Hong Kong in the early 1990’s at the age of 33, and took over the Chinese newspaper Mingpao after failing to call for Rupert Murdoch. He sold the paper in disgrace when Hong Kong journalists revealed he had been arrested for several months as a teenager studying in Canada.
He set up business, cinema and IT in China before setting up the HK01 page in 2016. The shopping center, which brought out the best journalists in Hong Kong on a challenging topic and the locals very strongly, made a good reputation.
“We knew our boss had their ideas but he didn’t interrupt what we were saying,” one employee told the Financial Times, saying this time was a “good time” for HK01.
Yu’s interest in the media was also sparked by his desire to attract government attention, researchers said. He is the chair of the academy at Tsinghua and Peking Chinese Universities and acquired Duowei in 2009, one of the largest political websites involved with Chinese nationals.
“Yu is totally disobedient to the government. . . It’s a business venture, it’s not going to work, ”says one former employer.
Yu first disclosed his arrival in Beijing in Mingpao, where one of his journalists was arrested in China in 1993. While his paper was calling for the journalist’s release, Yu apologized to Chinese officials and said he had reason to believe the journalist was guilty.
But the biggest test of Yu’s approach came in 2019 during a series of anti-government protests. Yu, who is also the editor-in-chief of HK01, wrote an editorial against violence a pro-democracy camp, angered future journalists who complained that the democrats were refusing to be interviewed.
“The superintendents are very advanced but some journalists and editors are very democratic, which is why there is always chaos there,” said Rose Luqiu, a former Chinese journalist now at Hong Kong Baptist University.
The introduction of a national security law has brought more attention to regulators than the protests against the protests, say two staff members. “Sometimes our editors ban our articles. The editors say it’s very difficult… Change sides,” a staff member said.
“No one is against the government,” added another.
The editor-in-chief of HK01 denied the allegations and said the shopping center “did not hesitate to get into serious trouble” or to explain politics before or after the security law was enacted.
A person close to the company said he too did not want to be interpreted by political issues. The type of business has changed in recent years including ecommerce. “HK01 is not just a news outlet, but an online company,” the editor said.
But for Yu and HK01, walking on a strong line of “faithful opposition” promises to be just as strong. If its stories turn out to be about Beijing in a city whose people tend to rely on the government, HK01 loses its readers.
“And the advertisers will leave you too,” Luqiu said.
But being a staunch opponent of democracy will only add to the tensions of your countrymen. In recent months, the website has been hosted by Stanley Ng, an anti-Beijing politician who portrayed HK01 as a garbage group like Apple Daily.
Additional reports of Nicolle Liu in Hong Kong