HONG KONG – Former Wall Street Journal reporter Selina Cheng stated she was terminated from her position for taking up a role as the head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), which advocates for press freedom.
Cheng, who covered China’s car industry, accused the newspaper’s editors of dismissing her on July 17 after she refused to step down from her role at HKJA. The association champions the rights and interests of journalists in Hong Kong, where press freedoms have been increasingly restricted following a Beijing-backed national security crackdown post-2019 pro-democracy protests.
“I am disappointed if these editors abroad have come to think press freedom is a controversial issue, as those who wish to intimidate reporters might like us to believe,” Cheng stated. “It is not.”
She commended the Wall Street Journal for its efforts to secure the release of journalist Evan Gershkovich, who is on trial in Russia for espionage, which made her “deeply shocked” by her own dismissal. A Dow Jones spokesperson confirmed personnel changes on July 17 but did not comment on specific cases. “The Wall Street Journal has been and continues to be a fierce and vocal advocate for press freedom in Hong Kong and around the world,” the spokesperson said.
Cheng said her supervisor instructed her to withdraw her candidacy from June’s election for chairperson of the HKJA and to quit the board, a position that had been previously approved when she joined the Journal in 2022.
“The editor said employees of the Journal should not be seen as advocating for press freedom in a place like Hong Kong, even though they can in Western countries where it is already established,” she explained.
In April, Hong Kong denied entry to a representative from Reporters Without Borders who intended to monitor the trial of former media mogul Jimmy Lai, the 76-year-old founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. The Paris-based advocacy group ranked Hong Kong 140th out of 180 in its 2023 World Press Freedom Index, a decline from 18th place two decades ago.
Earlier in 2024, US-funded news outlet Radio Free Asia closed its Hong Kong office due to concerns over staff safety after the city implemented a new security law known as Article 23. “The right for reporters to work without fear must be protected, not just by the law,” Cheng emphasized. “But more crucially, by ourselves – reporters, editors and publishers.”