Events cancelled, editor expelled: Hong Kong’s losing freedom
HONG KONG — The cancellation of literary and artistic events and the refusal to allow a Financial Times editor to enter Hong Kong have reignited concern about freedom of expression in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
A last-minute decision Friday to reinstate the literary event illustrates the back-and-forth over this issue.
Hong Kong was promised semi-autonomy for 50 years as part of its 1997 handover from Great Britain, allowing it to retain rights to assembly and free speech that are denied on the Chinese mainland.
The suspected kidnapping in 2015 by Chinese security forces of publishers of sometimes salacious works on the country’s leaders and the prosecution of organizers of anti-Beijing protests have sparked concern about those rights.