Son of detained Hong Kong media magnate urges freedom at UN event
Diplomats and other participants discussed issues related to media freedom in Hong Kong at the U.N. Office in Geneva on Wednesday, with a son of the detained founder of a pro-democracy newspaper in the former British colony calling for the release of his father.
Many ambassadors to the world body’s office from Asian and European nations as well as the United States attended the Britain-organized event on the sidelines of the ongoing Human Rights Council session, while China urged other countries in writing to refrain from sending their representatives to it.
“Our home and my father’s offices were bombed,” Sebastien Lai said in his address, referring to Jimmy Lai, the founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily who has been detained by Chinese authorities since 2020.
“My father believes that information is choice and choice is freedom. Free and independent information give individuals an alternative to what the government proposes,” Lai said during the “Hong Kong Media Freedom” event, which was co-organized by 22 other countries including the United States, Canada, Japan and the Netherlands.
Jimmy Lai was convicted of fraud over a land-use violation, as well as on charges of inciting unlawful assembly and attending a banned vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
“Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including media freedom, is a legitimate concern of the international community,” said Lars Tummers, a representative from the Netherlands.
According to Rebecca Vincent, a representative of Reporters Without Borders, the Geneva-based Chinese mission said in letters sent to other foreign missions ahead of the event that protections have improved for all the fundamental freedoms of Hong Kong citizens, including media freedom.
But “this can not be further from the truth,” she told the event.
Hong Kong was ranked 80th among 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index compiled by the Paris-based journalists’ group in 2020, when the Chinese national security law took effect, but plunged to 140th this year, Vincent said.
“China is strongly opposed to this event,” a representative from China said, adding that any attempt to undermine China’s stability “is unlikely to succeed.”
