Hong Kong newspapers urged China yesterday to send a clear signal that it will not tolerate intimidation in the city after a broadcaster accused Chinese officials of using veiled threats to force him off the air.
China's official Xinhua News Agency released a statement late on Thursday by a Chinese official saying "the freedom of speech and freedom of the press have been entirely guaranteed" in the former British colony since its return to China in 1997. But editorials in leading newspapers said that was not enough.
"A robust defence of Hong Kong's separate system would be very helpful. In particular, a clear signal from Beijing that it disapproves of any intimidation tactics could be sufficient to bring them to an end," said the South China Morning Post.
The Ming Pao daily said: "Governments in China and Hong Kong must look seriously into these accusations, investigate and quickly tell the public how the central authorities view such occurrences ... otherwise, the public will believe that freedom of speech in Hong Kong has been seriously undermined."
On Thursday, former radio host Allen Lee told a special legislative inquiry into freedom of the press that he quit last week after receiving intimidating calls from Chinese officials. He said one of the officials had remarked "your wife is very nice and your daughter is very pretty ..."
Lee said two other radio hosts who quit before him -- Albert Cheng and Raymond Wong -- had cried and trembled when they told him about the intimidation that they were facing.
Cheng and Wong, who were often critical of Beijing and the Beijing-backed Hong Kong government, said they and their families received death threats.
Lee said he did not believe Chinese leaders had specifically ordered the intimidation of Hong Kong broadcasters, blaming it instead on lower-level officials.
"People who carry out orders [from Beijing] may have their own interpretation. That is the most frightening," he said.
Hong Kong's main political parties have urged the government to investigate the cases of Cheng and Wong. The row over the sudden resignations of the radio hosts has raised questions about whether China is increasingly suppressing basic freedoms in the territory and comes amid rising political tension between Beijing and Hong Kong.
Last month, Beijing affirmed its full control over Hong Kong's democratic reforms. Despite widespread demands for more voting rights by Hong Kong people, it ruled out full, direct elections for the former British colony in 2007, when the next election for the city's leader is due.
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