Freedom in China8217;s backyard

In a noisy echo of Chris Patten's clash with Rupert Murdoch, a furious debate over media freedom erupted in the last governor's former domai...

In a noisy echo of Chris Patten8217;s clash with Rupert Murdoch, a furious debate over media freedom erupted in the last governor8217;s former domain after an attack in Beijing on Hong Kong8217;s Government-funded broadcaster as the voice of British colonialism.

Calls for a shake-up at Radio Television Hong Kong RTHK, which models itself on the BBC, and a purge of negative reporting prompted an outcry in the former British colony and revealed signs of a rift in the post-colonial Government over tolerance of criticism.

The attack was launched at a meeting in the Chinese capital by Xu Simin, an 86-year-old Hong Kong publisher and member of a Chinese advisory body. He denounced RTHK as 8220;a remnant of British rule8221; bent on opposing Hong Kong8217;s post-colonial government 8220;on the pretext of editorial independence8221;.

Tung Chee-hwa, who replaced Patten as Hong Kong8217;s leader last July, also voiced unhappiness with the public broadcaster. He said his Government8217;s policies should be 8220;presented positively8221;, and promised tolook into the matter further.

The remarks set alarm bells ringing about the future of press freedom, seen as a litmus test of China8217;s commitment to let Hong Kong run its own affairs in keeping with the 8220;one country two systems8221; formula.

8220;Is this the start of a new ethos of press reporting about the Government, the start of a new policy, like in China or Singapore, of so-called news management?8221; asked Martin Lee, leader of Hong Kong8217;s Democratic Party. 8220;I think it is extremely worrying.8221;

The answer to Lee8217;s question, which encapsulates the uncertainty at the heart of Hong Kong8217;s transition from British to Chinese rule, seems to have already divided the post-colonial leadership. While Tung seemed to endorse demands for more obedient broadcasting, his deputy, chief secretary Anson Chan, described Xu8217;s comments as 8220;extremely regrettable8221;.

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Speaking in Hong Kong, Chan, who also served under Patten and is viewed with suspicion by many veteran pro-China figures, said: 8220;The place for criticism and fordebate is here in Hong Kong, not in the mainland. I8217;m sure that this is the view of people here.8221;

Joining a chorus of criticism of Xu, the Chinese-language Hong Kong Economic Journal ran a headline parodying Beijing Radio8217;s call signal: 8220;Good morning, this is Hong Kong People8217;s Radio.8221; Hong Kong8217;s pro-China camp has long lobbied for a house-cleaning at RTHK, which until the 1960s served as an unambiguous voice of British rule but has since carved out a more independent role.

Xu said the Democratic Party leader should not have been allowed to question a new electoral system on air and complained that Tung had failed to take firm control: 8220;Tung is completely helpless. I have proposed three times that he do something. He only says slowly, slowly8217;.8221;

The Government currently has no direct control over the editorial content of public radio and TV, which receive a 200 HK million annual budget. Daily radio phone-in programmes regularly mock Tung. A rival phone-in on commercial radio is even morecaustic. Cheung Man-yee, RTHK8217;s current head, said: 8220;As a public broadcaster, our first objective is to serve the public. If we start to behave like central radio we8217;re just going to lose our audience.8221;

The Guardian News Service