The latest foreign journalist to leave Hong Kong after his visa was not renewed was Aaron Mc Nicholas, an Irish journalist who has been working in Hong Kong for five years, with no explanation as to why he was denied a visa. McNicholas has returned to Ireland, but continues to post on social media platforms to inform English-speaking readers about Hong Kong’s anti-amendment laws and press freedom.
In an article posted on the Irish website The Journal on September 1, McGullum, who writes for the English-language magazines Business, Storyful and Bloomberg, said he had been informed by the Immigration Department that his application for a work visa renewal had been rejected and that he would have to leave Hong Kong by the end of September. He said that the Immigration Department routinely did not tell him why his application had been rejected, resulting in rumors in Hong Kong where press freedom is increasingly suppressed by the Hong Kong National Security Act, and that he had the audacity to mimic his own personal experiences with his peers in mainland China who face even greater risks, such as the two ABC journalists in China who were forced to leave Beijing last month after being questioned by Chinese security forces.
In his article, he also discusses the declining press freedom in the world rankings, including the revised definition of “media representative” by the police, which puts the future work of freelance journalists at greater risk, and the fact that Radio Television Hong Kong, which claims to be a public broadcaster, is under pressure from its parent, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau. He also worries that media outlets that report on allegedly secessionist slogans will be the next target of the authorities.
Even as he retweeted his own article about being denied a visa, he urged people to look beyond himself and focus on the Apple Daily, RTHK, and the journalists who were affected by the police redefinition at the demonstration, when they were concerned about press freedom in Hong Kong.
He has not stopped reporting on Hong Kong affairs since leaving Hong Kong, and on his Twitter and Facebook pages he has been reprinting stories about the anti-amendment legislation and the 12 Hong Kong people who were detained by China while sneaking across the border to Taiwan, simply translating them into English or commenting on them in English.
However, since the implementation of the National Security Law in July, many journalists in Hong Kong, including those from the United States and the United Kingdom, have been denied work permits or visa renewals, and foreign journalists have issued statements expressing their dissatisfaction.
Recent Comments