HONG KONG — As Hong Kong marks the eighth anniversary today of its return to Chinese rule, its news media are struggling to preserve the independence that set them apart from the mainland's tightly controlled government presses.
On the surface, little has changed since the former British colony reverted to Chinese rule on July 1, 1997. Hong Kong still is home to one of the most dynamic media markets in Asia. But critics say that Beijing has been curbing the media's freedom so gradually that it's easy to miss and that Hong Kong's fears of losing its identity are starting to be realized.
"China should congratulate itself on the new media atmosphere in Hong Kong," said Law Yuk Kai, director of the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor. "It's clear they don't want to give pro-democratic forces a big voice."
Perhaps more than anything else, the erosion of media independence is a sign of how much the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, or SAR, has changed despite the pledge that under the "one-country, two-systems" formula, it would retain broad autonomy.
"We are still Hong Kong. We still enjoy a greater degree of freedom. But compared to five or seven years ago, we are very different," said Yeung Wai Hong, publisher of Next magazine. "This is not what the SAR was meant to be. We do not have a greater degree of autonomy. The average person on the street knows China is calling the shots."
Beijing has been careful not to muzzle Hong Kong's media overnight. Instead, officials mostly left things alone in the first years after the hand-over.
Many observers say a massive demonstration on July 1, 2003, became a turning point. The protest, which brought hundreds of thousands of people into the streets, apparently took Beijing by surprise. Mainland officials concluded that the media were part of the problem, and they began to reward publications willing to accommodate Beijing and punish those who disobeyed. The carrot has been money: advertising revenue and access to the vast mainland market.
"The rise of China's economic power has given it more strength to influence media in Hong Kong," said Fung Wai Kong, an editorial writer with Apple Daily newspaper. "If you don't behave, you have to pay a price."
Mainland and Hong Kong businesses willing to advertise in other Hong Kong publications seem to avoid the Apple Daily, which has retained its independent voice. The popular paper has the second-highest circulation in the territory.
