FCC Hong Kong resists Beijing pressure

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong has come under fire from Beijing and others for inviting a speaker who supports independence for this Chinese city.

But the club, proud standard bearer of freedom of speech and of the press in an increasingly repressive environment, refuses to change its plans. The club’s guest, Andy Chan, founder of the small Hong Kong National Party, can go ahead and speak at a lunch on 14 August. 

The Hong Kong office of Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the FCC to cancel the appearance by Chan, whose talk is entitled “Hong Kong Nationalism: A Politically Incorrect Guide to Hong Kong under Chinese Rule.”

China, which resumed control of the city from Britain 21 years ago, denounces in strident terms groups in Hong Kong that advocate varying degrees of local autonomy. 

The FCC’s response to Beijing came from the club’s first vice-president Victor Mallet, formerly of Reuters and currently Asia editor of the Financial Times.  “Our position is that we are a club that is a very strong defender of freedom of the press, and freedom of speech.”

The club welcomes different political views: “Sometimes the views of our speakers are abhorrent to the Chinese government, sometimes they are abhorrent to the opponents of the Chinese government… Our views are not represented by our speakers. We do want to hear from speakers of all kinds, whether they are right wing or left wing, or extremist or not. We will continue to do that.”

Further pressure on the FCC came from a former Hong Kong government leader, Leung Chun-ying, who said that inviting Chan to speak at the club had “nothing to do with press freedom”.

He also reminded the FCC that its premises were rented from the government at a token price. Mallet rejected that claim, saying the club pays substantial rent. 

Leung’s successor as chief executive, Carrie Lam, said the club’s invitation to Chan was “regrettable and inappropriate”. But she confirmed that the FCC was indeed paying market rates.

Meanwhile Chan’s fledgling party faces a possible ban for being an “imminent threat” to national security. This sledgehammer-like treatment comes despite the fact that his party appears to be little more than a one-man band and at a time when the Hong Kong independence movement is faltering.

However the furore over his FCC appearance at least guarantees a full house will hear him on 14 August. ■