Hong Kong has fallen three places in the latest Reporters Without Borders (RSF) press freedom ranking released on Thursday. The Paris-based media watchdog said Beijing’s sway on media independence in the city as influential in its decision.

The city fell to 73rd place in RSF’s 2019 World Press Freedom Index after rising to 70th the year before, marking a return to its 2017 ranking. In 2009, Hong Kong was ranked at 48th place, but it is now placed below Mongolia, Ivory Coast and Tunisia. The full list covers 180 territories.

Photo: Reporters Without Borders.

“Beijing’s baleful influence has led to a decline in press freedom in Hong Kong, which is supposed to enjoy separate status as a special administrative region until 2047,” the report read, citing the refusal to grant journalist Victor Mallet a visa renewal after he chaired a talk by a pro-independence activist and the prevalence of Hong Kong media owners with “business interests” or political allegiances in mainland China.

‘A blurry red line’

Cédric Alviani, director of RSF’s Taipei Bureau, told HKFP that the decision was based on concerns over the rule of law in Hong Kong: “We’re concerned about the rule of law in Hong Kong and how it will affect journalists in the future, particularly with the new extradition law,” he said, referring to proposed legislative amendments that would allow the city to handle extradition requests from jurisdictions where there are no existing agreements – notably from China and Taiwan.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam has repeatedly said that press freedom has been respected since the 1997 Handover to China, and has insisted the proposed amendments to the extradition law are meant to plug a legal “loophole” to prevent the city from becoming a haven for fugitive offenders.

But Alviani said the amended law could be used against the media: “We think it will give an opportunity for Chinese authorities to seize bloggers, journalists or any defender of free expression in Hong Kong. It’s happened before in the past, with Gui Minhai,” he said, referring to a bookseller who was allegedly kidnapped in Thailand only to reappear in China “confessing” to a traffic crime.

“The rule of law is based on predictability; there would be no predictability. You cannot have the rule of law based on a blurry red line.”

Photo: RSF. Click here to download or view in full.

The bureau director also said that, owing to the nature of ranking, countries’ positions were also influenced by the movements of others which affect the whole index.

”In Full: The Reporters Without Border Press Freedom Index 2019 – click to view.“ Ranking 2019 Country and Territory Progression Ranking 2018 1 Norway 0 1 2 Finland 2 4 3 Sweden -1 2 4 Netherlands -1 3 5 Denmark 4 9 6 Switzerland -1 5 7 New Zealand 1 8 8 Jamaica -2 6 9 Belgium -2 7 10 Costa Rica 0 10 11 Estonia 1 12 12 Portugal 2 14 13 Germany 2 15 14 Iceland -1 13 15 Ireland 1 16 16 Austria -5 11 17 Luxembourg 0 17 18 Canada 0 18 19 Uruguay 1 20 20 Suriname 1 21 21 Australia -2 19 22 Samoa 0 22 23 Namibia 3 26 24 Latvia 0 24 25 Cape Verde 4 29 26 Liechtenstein 4 30 27 Ghana -4 23 28 Cyprus -3 25 29 Spain 2 31 30 Lithuania 6 36 31 South Africa -3 28 32 France 1 33 33 United Kingdom 7 40 34 Slovenia -2 32 35 Slovakia -8 27 36 Burkina Faso 5 41 37 Andorra 0 37 38 Papua New Guinea 15 53 39 Trinidad and Tobago 0 39 40 Czech Republic -6 34 41 South Korea 2 43 42 Taiwan 0 42 43 Italy 3 46 44 Botswana 4 48 45 Tonga 6 51 46 Chile -8 38 47 Romania -3 44 48 United States -3 45 49 Senegal 1 50 50 OECS -15 35 51 Guyana 4 55 52 Fiji 5 57 53 Belize -6 47 54 Madagascar 0 54 55 Dominican Republic 4 59 56 Comoros -7 49 57 Argentina -5 52 58 Mauritius -2 56 59 Poland -1 58 60 Georgia 1 61 61 Armenia 19 80 62 Haiti -2 60 63 Bosnia and Herzegovina -1 62 64 Croatia 5 69 65 Greece 9 74 66 Niger -3 63 67 Japan 0 67 68 Malawi -4 64 69 Seychelles 16 85 70 Mongolia 1 71 71 Ivory Coast 11 82 72 Tunisia 25 97 73 Hong Kong -3 70 74 Cyprus North 3 77 75 Kosovo 3 78 76 Togo 10 86 77 Malta -12 65 78 Lesotho -10 68 79 Panama 12 91 80 Bhutan 14 94 81 El Salvador -15 66 82 Albania -7 75 83 Kyrgyzstan 15 98 84 East Timor 11 95 85 Peru 3 88 86 Sierra Leone -7 79 87 Hungary -14 73 88 Israel -1 87 89 Guinea-Bissau -6 83 90 Serbia -14 76 91 Moldova -10 81 92 Gambia 30 122 93 Liberia -4 89 94 Mauritania -22 72 95 Macedonia 14 109 96 Benin -12 84 97 Ecuador -5 92 98 Maldives 22 120 99 Paraguay 8 107 100 Kenya -4 96 101 Lebanon -1 100 102 Ukraine -1 101 103 Mozambique -4 99 104 Montenegro -1 103 105 Brazil -3 102 106 Nepal 0 106 107 Guinea -3 104 108 Kuwait -3 105 109 Angola 12 121 110 Ethiopia 40 150 111 Bulgaria 0 111 112 Mali 3 115 113 Bolivia -3 110 114 Nicaragua -24 90 115 Gabon -7 108 116 Guatemala 0 116 117 Congo -3 114 118 Tanzania -25 93 119 Zambia -6 113 120 Nigeria -1 119 121 Afghanistan -3 118 122 Chad 1 123 123 Malaysia 22 145 124 Indonesia 0 124 125 Uganda -8 117 126 Sri Lanka 5 131 127 Zimbabwe -1 126 128 Qatar -3 125 129 Colombia 1 130 130 Jordan 2 132 131 Cameroon -2 129 132 Oman -5 127 133 United Arab Emirates -5 128 134 Philippines -1 133 135 Morocco 0 135 136 Thailand 4 140 137 Palestine -3 134 138 Myanmar -1 137 139 South Sudan 5 144 140 India -2 138 141 Algeria -5 136 142 Pakistan -3 139 143 Cambodia -1 142 144 Mexico 3 147 145 Central African Republic -33 112 146 Honduras -5 141 147 Swaziland 5 152 148 Venezuela -5 143 149 Russian Federation -1 148 150 Bangladesh -4 146 151 Singapore 0 151 152 Brunei Darussalam 1 153 153 Belarus 2 155 154 The Democratic Republic Of The Congo 0 154 155 Rwanda 1 156 156 Iraq 4 160 157 Turkey 0 157 158 Kazakhstan 0 158 159 Burundi 0 159 160 Uzbekistan 5 165 161 Tajikistan -12 149 162 Libya 0 162 163 Egypt -2 161 164 Somalia 4 168 165 Equatorial Guinea 6 171 166 Azerbaijan -3 163 167 Bahrain -1 166 168 Yemen -1 167 169 Cuba 3 172 170 Islamic Republic of Iran -6 164 171 Lao People’s Democratic Republic -1 170 172 Saudi Arabia -3 169 173 Djibouti 0 173 174 Syrian Arab Republic 3 177 175 Sudan -1 174 176 Vietnam -1 175 177 China -1 176 178 Eritrea 1 179 179 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 1 180 180 Turkmenistan -2 178

However, the report also said that there was a “resistance” taking place in response to the press freedom concerns in the city: “It is being led by a handful of independent online media such as Citizen News, The Initium, Stand News, Hong Kong Free Press and inMedia. They exist thanks to participative funding and their audience is growing.”

‘Oppressive model’

China was downgraded by one place from 176th to 177th, above Eritrea, North Korea and Turkmenistan. RSF said increased surveillance and the proliferation of Chinese censorship models across the world as influential in its decision.

“By relying on the massive use of new technology, President Xi Jinping has succeeded in imposing a social model in China based on control of news and information and online surveillance of its citizens,” the report read. “At the same time, he has been trying to export this oppressive model by promoting a ‘new world media order’ under China’s influence.”

Cédric Alviani. Photo: RSF.

In other countries, South Korea ousted Taiwan to rank the highest in press freedom in the region at 41st place; while Taiwan, Japan and Singapore did not move from last year’s ranking, at 42nd, 67th and 151st place respectively.

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