Global Courant 2023-05-11 10:15:00
HONG KONG — A Hong Kong newspaper on Thursday scrapped a satirical cartoon following a decades-long string of complaints from authorities, the cartoonist said, in what was seen as the latest blow to media freedom in the Chinese-ruled city.
Ming Pao newspaper said in a statement that from Sunday it would scrap the comic of Mr. Wong Kei-kwan, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent political cartoonists, who has been running since 1983 and is famous for his satirical take on Hong Kong and Chinese politics and society.
Ming Pao did not comment on the decision and did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
Mr Wong, who goes by the pseudonym Zunzi, said Ming Pao had informed him numerous times about official complaints about his work, most recently this week.
“I feel like the pressure is building and it won’t stop without change,” 67-year-old Wong, who wears a silver mustache and beard, told Reuters.
In April, Hong Kong’s security chief Chris Tang called one of the cartoons “misleading” after it featured a man who said a recent increase in Hong Kong’s security spending would lead to more prisoners, more prisons, more prison guards and more judges.
Mr. Wong seemed resigned to his comic’s ending, noting that “the situation continues to move in a bad direction”.
“There are still a lot of journalists who keep speaking out on different platforms, and comics are just one form,” he said.
“I will continue to speak out if given the opportunity.”
The strip was one of the few remaining spaces for staunch criticism in the Hong Kong media following China’s imposition of a sweeping national security law in 2020 after months of pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Critics say media freedom is being eroded in the former British colony.
Once a base for international media covering not just China but the region and home to vibrant domestic media, the city was ranked 140 out of 180 regions in a global press freedom index compiled by media rights group Reporters Without Borders. It ranked 73rd in 2019.
The Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly emphasized that media freedoms are respected and enshrined in law.
But police raided and shut down several liberal media outlets, including the Apple Daily newspaper and Stand News.
Public broadcaster RTHK has canceled satirical shows and toned down coverage after criticism from pro-Chinese politicians and officials. REUTERS
