The newly elected chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association said Wednesday she was fired from The Wall Street Journal because the HKJA position would be “incompatible” with her job as a reporter.
In a statement posted on X, Selina Cheng said she was “appalled that the first press conference I am giving as HKJA’s new chair is to announce that I was fired for taking up this position.”
Cheng, who covered the Chinese auto industry at the Journal, said when the newspaper found out she was running for chairperson, her supervisor in Britain asked her to quit the board.
“The editor said employees of the Journal should not be seen as advocating for press freedom in a place like Hong Kong,” Cheng wrote.
Cheng added that the editor, who she has not named, said because the Journal reports on press freedom violations in Hong Kong, including trials involving the media, having a reporter in a position that advocates for those cases “would create a conflict.”
A spokesperson at Dow Jones, parent company of the Journal, confirmed to VOA via email that it did make personnel changes on Wednesday, but said, “We don't comment on specific individuals.”
"The Wall Street Journal has been and continues to be a fierce and vocal advocate for press freedom in Hong Kong and around the world,” the spokesperson added.
The Journal in May had announced staff cuts to its Hong Kong operations, with its editor-in-chief Emma Tucker saying it was moving parts of the media outlet to Singapore.
In a memo to staff at the time, Tucker said, “Some of our colleagues, mostly in Hong Kong, will be leaving us.”
The Journal has since advertised jobs in Singapore, as well as in Hong Kong where some staff remain.
Cheng has worked in Hong Kong since 2017. During that time, she reported on the umbrella protest movement, the removal of books about Tiananmen Square from libraries, and a lobbying campaign that sought to revoke the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act.
She has been a board member of the HKJA since 2021, a position she says the Journal previously approved.
The HKJA issued a statement Wednesday saying it was “outraged” by the Journal’s decision and noted the paper had “extensively” covered the conditions for media freedom.
“By pressuring employees not to take part in the HKJA, a key advocate for both local and international journalists working in Hong Kong, the WSJ risks hastening the decline of what space for independent journalism remains,” the statement said.
The HKJA said that other elected board members had come under similar pressure.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks Hong Kong 135 out of 180 on its press freedom index, where 1 shows the best environment.
