Beijing’s powerful security agency in Hong Kong has summoned journalists from international media to inform them it will not tolerate “trouble-making”, after critical coverage of the deadly apartment complex fire that has left the territory reeling.
Senior reporters from several outlets operating in the city were called to the meeting by the Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS), which was set up by Beijing in 2020.
In the meeting, which was attended by the New York Times and Agence France-Presse, an official accused journalists of tainting the government. The official did not give specific examples of coverage and did not take questions, according to AFP.
An OSNS statement posted online shortly after the meeting accused some foreign media of having “disregarded facts, spread false information, distorted and smeared the government’s disaster relief and aftermath work”.
Hong Kong has been on edge since the 26 November apartment complex blaze, which left at least 159 people dead. The fire at the eight-tower Wang Fuk Court in northern Hong Kong is the city’s worst disaster in 75 years, and the world’s most fatal residential building fire since 1980.
Home to nearly 5,000 people, the sprawling block of apartments was under extensive renovations that have since been found to contain substandard, flammable materials, leading to public outcry.
The online OSNS statement urged journalists to “not cross the legal red line”.
“The office will not tolerate the actions of all anti-China and trouble-making elements in Hong Kong,” adding: “Don’t say we didn’t warn you.”
Semi-autonomous Hong Kong was returned from the UK to China in 1997, and operates under a “one-country, two-systems” framework. It has long prided itself on liberties not available on the mainland, such as a free press and the ability to demonstrate. However, those freedoms have been eroded since the wide-ranging 2020 National Security Law, which gave Beijing sweeping powers to curtail dissent.
The OSNS warned earlier this week against what it claimed were “external forces” threatening to exploit the fire, as well as “anti-China media organisations”.
Saturday’s statement accused some in the media of having “attacked and interfered with” the legislative election, which will be held on Sunday. Hong Kong’s electoral system was revamped in 2021 to ensure that only “patriots” could hold office, meaning pro-China candidates.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
