Radio Free Asia Closes Hong Kong Office Over New Security Law Fears

Hong Kong's Radio Free Asia (RFA) has closed its bureau due to safety concerns under the new national security law, according to a statement by RFA President Bay Fang. The US-funded broadcaster will no longer have full-time staff in Hong Kong but will retain its official media registration. The move is seen as a reflection of the city's narrowing space for a free press following the enactment of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, also known as Article 23 legislation.Rep. Gregory Meeks, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, expressed concern over RFA's shutdown and said the new law "not only represents a significant escalation in efforts by Hong Kong and Beijing authorities to suppress free speech and expression", but "also undermines media freedom and the public's ability to obtain fact-based information". Cedric Alviani, the Asia-Pacific bureau director for Reporters Without Borders, called the broadcaster's withdrawal "a consequence of the chilling effect applied on media outlets" by the new security law.Hong Kong, once seen as a bastion of media freedom in Asia, has already changed drastically since Beijing imposed a similar security law in 2020, following anti-government protests in 2019. Since the introduction of the 2020 law, two local news outlets known for critical coverage of the government, Apple Daily and Stand News, were forced to shut down after the arrest of their senior management, including Apple Daily publisher Jimmy Lai. Hong Kong ranked 140th out of 180 countries and territories in Reporters Without Borders latest World Press Freedom Index.The new home-grown security law, which was enacted through an expedited legislative process last week, has expanded the government's power to stamp out challenges to its rule. It targets espionage, disclosing state secrets, and "colluding with external forces" to commit illegal acts, among others. Some offenses, such as treason and insurrection, carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The legislation has sparked worries among many journalists over a further decline in media freedom. They fear the broadly framed law could criminalise their day-to-day work.RFA, funded by the US Congress through the US Agency for Global Media, has recently been under the Hong Kong government's attack. In January, police issued a letter to RFA and condemned it for quoting "false statements" by wanted activist Ted Hui that they said smeared the police force. Hui, a former pro-democracy lawmaker, is one of the overseas-based activists for whom police have offered awards of 1 million Hong Kong dollars (USD 128,000) for information leading to their arrest. He is accused of requesting foreign countries to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and China.In February, Hong Kong's security minister, Chris Tang, said some comments quoted in reports by RFA about the new legislation were "fake" and "false". He did not specify the comments or reports but said they suggested that some provisions of the law were targeting the media. He insisted there were protections for the media in the legislation. When asked whether the work of RFA is considered "external interference" or "espionage", Tang said any violation of the law should be judged on a case-by-case basis.The Hong Kong government on Friday refused to comment on operational decisions of individual organisations but condemned "all scaremongering and smearing remarks" against the new law in an email response. It said many other countries also have security laws and insisted that most journalists will not unwittingly violate it.Fang said RFA's Hong Kong bureau has operated as a private news organisation since its launch in 1996 and that its editorial independence was safeguarded by a firewall endorsed by the US Congress. She added that RFA would shift to using a different journalistic model reserved for closed media environments but assured its audience in Hong Kong and mainland China that its content would "continue without disruption".