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an ex hong kong A Wall Street Journal reporter began testifying Monday against the newspaper she accused in a lawsuit of firing her because of her union activities — a closely watched case that has raised concerns about press freedom in the city.
East WSJ Reporter Selina Cheng, who is also president of the trade union Hong Kong Journalists Association, launched a private lawsuit against her former employer, Dow Jones Publishing Co. (Asia) Inc., the Journal’s parent company, after losing her job in July 2024.
At the time, Cheng said he believed the dismissal was linked to his refusal to comply with his former supervisor’s request to withdraw from the election for the union role, rather than a restructuring of the news outlet, as he had been told.
Dow Jones faces two charges under the city’s employment ordinance. The company pleaded not guilty to both charges, each of which carried a maximum fine of 100,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $12,850).
Two allegations against the newspaper
The first charge alleges that the company prevented or prevented an employee from exercising union participation rights. The second is an allegation that the company terminated, punished, or discriminated against an employee for exercising those rights.
Ahead of Cheng’s testimony, Dow Jones representative Benson Tsoi last week accused him of abusing the criminal process and acting in bad faith when demanding that the court admit certain email exchanges. Tsoi highlighted emails that showed Cheng had demanded 3 million Hong Kong dollars ($385,500) as a settlement or restitution along with a formal apology.
Tsoi said Cheng had told the labor tribunal he did not intend to seek an out-of-court settlement, but the emails showed he had pressed for arbitration with the company.
Hong Kong, which returned Sugar ruled in 1997 after almost 150 years British Control, once considered a bastion of press freedom in Asia. Yet despite the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution that guarantees upholding Western-style civil liberties under a “one country, two systems” approach has seen vast variations in the ability of media to operate there.
The media environment in Hong Kong has faltered
After Beijing imposed national security laws in 2020, two local news outlets known for their critical coverage of the government, Apple Daily and stand newsThey were forced to close following the arrest of their senior management, including Apple Daily publisher Jimmy Lai.
Lai was convicted under the security law last Monday and faces life imprisonment. While the government insists that his case has nothing to do with press freedom, rights groups have expressed concern. Amnesty International said the sentence “sounds like the death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong.”
Two former editors of Stand News were also convicted in August 2024, the first journalists found guilty of treason under a different law since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule.
Cheng’s termination has worried many journalists already working in an increasingly restricted media environment in the city, where foreign outlets traditionally face less pressure than local news outlets.
Hong Kong ranked 140th out of 180 countries and territories in Reporters Without Borders’ latest World Press Freedom Index, up from 80th in 2021.