Hong Kong court convicts Wall Street Journal publisher of deterring reporter from taking union role

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court on Thursday convicted the publisher of The Wall Street Journal of deterring its reporter from taking up a trade union role, in a case that raised concerns about press freedom in the city. The court acquitted Dow Jones Publishing Co. (Asia) Inc. of the charge of dismissal over the union role.

Former WSJ reporter Selina Cheng, also chairperson of the trade union Hong Kong Journalists Association, launched a private prosecution against Dow Jones Publishing Co. (Asia) Inc. after losing her job in July 2024.

Hong Kong, once considered a bastion of press freedom in Asia, has seen its media landscape change drastically in recent years, including the forced closure of news outlets and the prosecution of newsroom leaders.

Principal Magistrate David Cheung convicted the defendant of the first charge but said the defense has raised sufficient reasonable doubt for the second charge.

Cheng earlier said her supervisor told her that her participation in the union election was problematic and that the supervisor needed to discuss the issue with the Journal management in New York and Dow Jones’ in-house lawyers. Cheng said she was told that her union role would be incompatible with her employment.

Dow Jones pleaded not guilty last year to two charges under the city’s Employment Ordinance, each carrying a maximum fine of 100,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $12,750). The first charge alleges the company had prevented or deterred Cheng from exercising union participation rights. The second alleges the company terminated her employment for exercising those rights.

During the trial, the defense tried to convince the court that Cheng was terminated because of redundancy and argued the prosecution had not sufficiently proved that the firm’s management instructed Cheng’s supervisor. The defense also accused Cheng of acting in bad faith in a previous hearing.

Cheng’s termination in 2024 alarmed many journalists, especially given that foreign outlets have traditionally faced less pressure than local news outlets in Hong Kong.

After Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020, two local news outlets known for critical coverage of the government, Apple Daily and Stand News, were forced to shut down following the arrest of their senior management.

Jimmy Lai , founder of Apple Daily, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in February. His staffers received prison terms ranging from six years and nine months, to 10 years.

Hong Kong, a former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997, ranked 140th out of 180 countries and territories in Reporters Without Borders’ latest World Press Freedom Index, down from 18th out of 139 regions in 2002.