The leader of the Hong Kong Journalists’ Union has been arrested. Ronson Chan, President of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), has been taken into custody for allegedly disturbing public order and resisting a police officer, police sources told AFP on Wednesday. Chan wanted to leave the Chinese special administrative region in just a few weeks to study at the British Oxford University on a six-month scholarship.
Chan’s employer, online news platform Channel C, said Chan was taken away by police officers while covering a council housing meeting.
Since China enacted a so-called security law in 2020, Hong Kong has taken massive action against pro-democracy activists and other voices critical of Beijing. Authorities are also using a British colonial-era anti-riot law.
Several Hong Kong media outlets critical of Beijing have been forced to shut down after authorities cracked down on executives with raids, arrests and indictments, including the popular tabloid Apple Daily last year.
International organizations see an increasing curtailment of press freedom in Hong Kong. China’s SAR slipped 68 places to 148th in a May report by Reporters Without Borders on the state of press freedom around the world.