"Another reporter recklessly beaten and arrested by police while covering live news"
BeWaterMessage from the Chief Editor of Maddog.HK - Leung Kam Cheung
When I was writing this piece, our colleague was still detained at Tseung Kwan O Police Station. Our reporters faced many interruptions, unreasonable arrest and even accusations of being "black reporters" by the police during regular news coverage. I feel obligated to explain the full incident to our readers.
Citizens commemorated the death of Chow Tsz Lok on Feb 8 in Sheung Tak Estate, Tseung Kwan O despite the coronavirus outbreak. Nevertheless, the unrelenting government gave no room for the city to grieve and police dispersed the crowds with excessive violence. Many citizens were arrested. When one of our journalists attempted to capture the face of an arrestee, the police commander immediately shouted: "black reporter, arrest him!" He was wearing a press card registeredwith the Information Services Department. When he was subdued, his head struck the ground. The police continued to hit his head with batons.
The police have been shouting over the voices of arrestees(attempting to identify themselves for legal aid), so why is it necessary to get angry over journalists' simple questions? Our journalists have been interfered, threatened and wrongfully arrested. We are not being singled out; student reporters from CityU Student Union Editorial Board were also arrested. But one thing is for sure, and that is civil society's painstaking support of freedom of the press. If you watched TVB's newsreport about a citizen's head being beaten by police in Sai Kung District, it would be distorted into "Police are treating an injured person. Cause of injury is unknown." This is a shame for the media industry. I can hardly imagine how bad the situation could have become if no brave civil journalists were filming the truth for us. Without them, Hongkongers would be fooled by mainstream media controlled by the #CCP. This is the worst battle in my 30 years working in journalism.
Some readers may wonder why we did not issue a statement to accuse the police. The first reason is that police brutality is getting worse day after day; issuing a statement has become an ineffectual rubber stamp. Without concrete action to pressure the government and police, the problem will never be solved. Secondly, I have gained a deeper understanding of Beijing's agenda based on Carrie Lam's behaviour in dealing with the novel #CoronavirusOutbreak. Theoretically, if Carrie Lam took advantage of the outbreak by implementing effective measures to combat the virus like enforcing tighter border controls, she could win back extensive public support and eliminate resistance against her (especially since the number of protest frontliners is diminishing). However, she insisted on going against public interest. There is no need to discuss whether she is losing her mind, but we need to question if Beijing and Lam have a plan to expose and eliminate the opposition in one fell swoop. If the hypothesis stands, the power struggle will start from (1) university students & education sector, (2) healthcare industry and (3) online media. The government will begin settling scores soon. Even if the epidemic is not mitigated, the healthcare sector will start crumbling. In short, police brutality against journalists is only a part of the agenda. If we only look at individual industries without considering the bigger picture, we will never fully understand the gravity of the situation.
The strike organised by the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance (HAEA) was unsuccessful because other industries did not collaborate and join forces. Cathay Dragon staff felt the #whiteterror of management, threatening to fire them if they participated in the strike. Hongkongers still consider "work is more important than life" but they fail to recognise the value of their lives andthe need to fight for their rights at all costs.
The epidemic is just a problem that skims the surface. The root of Hong Kong's crisis can be summarised by Bloomberg's comment, "Hong Kong is . . . a #FAILEDSTATE." A government without credibility and power of governance is mishandling the unknown coronavirus outbreak; unsurprisingly, Bloomberg compared Hong Kong's future with Venezuela's present. This may be considered alarmist but I find it very convincing. Carrie Lam's approval rating dropping to new lows, people's wrath soaring to new heights and even countless deaths in Hong Kong will not bother Xi Jinping as long as the 30,000 police are under his control and suppressing the people's voice.
Hong Kong's fate will notwait for the Legislative Council elections in Sept, 2020. The solution to the unprecedented crisis in Hong Kong is not just simply upholding freedom of the press. We must kick out CCP's harmful rule of Hong Kong.
Source: Mad dog