Kashan News founder Hu Jian, who won the Human Rights Press Award, has fled Hong Kong for Taiwan.
The 25th annual Human Rights Press Awards were announced, and on the same day, Hu Jian, the founder of the online media Kashan Communications, who won the award for the first time, announced that he had left Hong Kong and fled to Taiwan. In an exclusive interview with Taiwan Radio, he lamented that he had become “the most human rights-free journalist”. He admits that he left because he was “cowardly or unable to face up to it,” but he still loves being a journalist and believes that he will eventually find his own position again. (By Wen Haixin, Taipei)
The 25th annual Human Rights Press Awards were officially announced Thursday (6), but a journalism award that praises human rights reporting has become a symbol of the suppression of press freedom in Hong Kong this year. Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) withdrew all entries and said it would not receive the award, causing an outcry. In the student category, Hu Jian, one of the founders of DB Channel, who won a merit award for his essay “‘My name is not Han Baosheng’ – the aftermath of the robbery”, has also fled Hong Kong for Taiwan.
He lamented that after winning the award, he became a “powerless journalist”.
In an interview with us after his arrival in Taiwan, the 23-year-old said reluctantly, “It’s ironic that I won the Human Rights Journalism Award, because I got it for exposing human rights violations and injustice.
Hu Jian said, “It’s ironic, because after I won the Human Rights Press Award, I became the “most human rights-free journalist”. But so what if the irony is over? A lot of things have already happened, and you don’t know what will happen afterwards. Even if it’s ironic, it’s not as ironic as Cai Yuling’s case. No one in white has been jailed in the 721 incident, but she was the first to be convicted. And after I got the Human Rights Press Award, “Kashan” did not close down, but “Viewpoint 31” disappeared (or will disappear) after getting the Press Award, which is more ironic. So I’m just adding one more note to the irony of the whole thing.
In contrast, he found it more encouraging that another member of Kashan won a photography award at such a young age.
During the interview, although Hu Jian smiled brightly from time to time, there was a hint of helplessness between his words. (Photo by Wen Haixin)
Leaving because of “cowardice or failure to face” the 47-person case became a catalyst
Hu Jian recalled that, in addition to his account being frozen recently, he had been stalked since late 2020. After his interview with David Missal, a young German expelled from China, was published, more than 10 police officers stared at his flat for at least an hour in the early hours of the morning. Once, after interviewing overseas Hong Kong protesters such as Kwong Chung Ching, he was also followed, and even his relatives overseas were harassed by phone, asking if they knew him.
When he started working as a journalist, he wanted to expose social injustice, and he was determined to start his own business because he thought there was more room to play than in traditional media. He is convinced that the success of a career depends on one’s ability, but today he has to leave his hometown because of this. He admits that under Hong Kong’s National Security Law, journalists can be accused of breaking the law at any time, so he has a lot of imagination about being arrested, and the 47-person case was the catalyst for him to leave. After hearing the case, Wu Jian realized that when a person reaches a certain point and finds himself facing at least six or seven years without freedom, he asked himself if he could be as righteous as former journalist Ho Kwai Lan. His answer was “no,” because he still had to take care of his family. He admitted that the biggest reason for leaving was fear and cowardice.
Hu Jian said, “Privately, I said I didn’t mind being the first journalist to be arrested under the National Security Law, because I felt I had an aura. But the problem is that the reality of the 47-person case shows you that the psychological fear of interrogation under the National Security Law can be so terrifying. Another important thing is, even if I am really the first journalist arrested by the National Security Law, can I really do what I want to do? Obviously not. There are so many people who have been arrested under the National Security Act that no one really cares about right now, like Jess. Ask yourself, how many people really care about him? Was there a long line outside the courtroom during his trial? No.
There are millions of reasons for not wanting to leave
He mentioned that he actually wanted to leave as early as last November, but there were a lot of things he couldn’t let go of. Besides family and friends, there are also court hearings. For example, he wanted to go to the court of Zhou Ziluo’s death or to cover the trials of other protesters. Sometimes he even feels that he is still useful in Hong Kong, but there are countless reasons why he does not want to leave. More importantly, he couldn’t leave Hong Kong, the place where he was born and raised.
Hu Jian says, “Although I have been exploring what I can do in Hong Kong, what can I contribute to Hong Kong, and what is the most basic thing I can do to write a few more useful interviews about Hong Kong? I have always planned to leave, but I would like to stay and do more. Until the 47 people case, it was a big “shock education” for me, so shocking, even more so for my friends. When many of my friends have left, the circle only left me, they will want me to leave. I had no money, and I couldn’t afford to buy a plane ticket. When your friends even help you buy a plane ticket, don’t you want to leave?
Hu Jian also brought a book with him to Taiwan. (Photo by Wen Haixin)
There is no shame in leaving, but what will you do after you leave?
He believes there is no shame in leaving, but what you do after you leave is what defines its value. He hopes to “live up to my identity as a Hong Kong citizen”. He expects that more journalists will leave Hong Kong in the future, but hopes that they will continue to do what helps Hong Kong.
After leaving, no matter what happens in Hong Kong, we can only “observe from across the river” and then report, which is perhaps the most painful thing as a journalist. When it comes to his position in Taiwan, Hu Jian admits that he does not have a clear direction, but as he asks himself, he hopes to continue to run Kashan Communications and to continue to promote local ideas through in-depth reports and interviews. He said firmly that when he came to Taiwan, he still “wanted to be a journalist” and quoted Tsai Yu-ling’s words: “Even though the platforms in front of us may be suppressed and disappear one by one, as long as we still want to do it, there will be room. He laughed at himself, “I love being a journalist so much that I’ve ended up in this situation today.
Almost two years after the founding of “Kashan”, two of its founders, Feng Dajun, are in prison and he himself has fled to Taiwan. When asked about the future of Kashan, he said with a slightly sad look in his eyes that even if he no longer ran Kashan, he would have to personally explain to the people who had encouraged him.
Hu Jian said, “When Kashan closed down, many people encouraged me to continue, and many of those who encouraged me are now sitting “inside the walls. I felt sorry for them if I ended my operation without giving them a personal explanation, so I will at least try my best to continue.
You have to know how to make up for your position in the online media
As the founder of the online media, he mentioned that during the “Anti-Sending China Campaign”, Hong Kong’s online media blossomed and everyone would fill in for the live broadcast, but he was angry that now there is a lot of court news in Hong Kong every day, but no online media know how to fill in. When he was still in Hong Kong, the courtroom was his regular haunt.
This was also reflected in the items Hu Jian brought to Taiwan, many of which were his “war stories” from the Hong Kong courtroom, such as his notebooks and his chip number to enter the courtroom for hearings, which he cherished.
A record of Hu Jian’s “war record” in the courtroom. (Photo by Wen Haixin)
The other thing that best represents the Hong Kong journalist is his reflective jacket. When interviewed, he awkwardly admonished, “Don’t ask me to put it on and take pictures.” He even got close to the suit and smelled it, saying with a smile, “Does it still smell like tear gas? He is a 23-year-old young man from Hong Kong. He is a 23-year-old young man from Hong Kong, and even though he doesn’t know what lies ahead, he is confident that he will eventually find his own job again.
Hu Jian awkwardly admonished, “Don’t ask me to put it on and take pictures. (Photo by Wen Haixin)
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