INTRODUCTION
After the July 1, 1997 handover of Hong Kong by Britain to China, it was expected by many that any attack on press freedom would come directly from Beijing.
As it has turned out, noted after one year and confirmed now after one-and-a-half years, the pressure was more insidious.
Self-censorship, pressure from "upstairs," ultimatums to and from advertisers, non-cooperation with Hong Kong journalists going into China, increased prosecution of journalists in China, were among the elements.
I had decided on a book title "The Suffocation of Hong Kong: Decline of Press Freedom Since the 1997 Handover" as supported by my research. Nevertheless I had some trepidation as I arrived in Hong Kong recently on one of my frequent visits, thinking some might feel it was too bold.
My hesitancy was unfounded.
"That's perfect. That's the real story, " said Kin-min Liu, President of the Hong Kong Journalists' Association, when I told him the working title. "The situation is getting worse and may explode in a few months. Your timing is perfect."
Others whose opinions I respected were likewise supportive and even congratulatory. My hesitation meant that even I had succumbed, however momentarily, in a way to the odious self-censorship; I had the facts before me after long months of research but I had shown some hesitation at the last moment, thinking some would feel I had gone too far.
That is an example of the deceptive nature of the phenomenon of decline of press freedom in Hong Kong after the 1997 handover.
What is freedom of the press, anyway?
Should we allow for difference between Western definition of press freedom and Asian values?
Does "freedom of the press in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover" really matter?
Haven't internationally-known think tanks like Heritage Foundation rated Hong Kong as the most free in the world economic terms?
So what? It was expected that self-censorship might increase and it did even before the handover. Why all the fuss? Didn't China state there would be "one country, two systems" and that Hong Kong's lifestyle would carry forward for 50 years?
