Hong Kong File photo

The spokesperson of the Office of The Commissioner of the Chinese FM in HK on Friday strongly condemned the Foreign Correspondents' Club Hong Kong and other foreign forces for pointing fingers at the verdict of journalist Bao Choy, saying that "no organization or individual shall meddle with Hong Kong affairs, which are China's internal affairs, on the pretext of press freedom."

The Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in the HKSAR expressed strong disapproval of and firm opposition against the unwarranted remarks by the Foreign Correspondents' Club Hong Kong (FCC) and certain other external forces about the Hong Kong judiciary's trial of a case related to false statements. 

"Such comments openly vilified the SAR Government and trampled upon the rule of law on the pretext of press freedom, and constituted a blatant interference in Hong Kong affairs, which are China's internal affairs," said the statement.

A Hong Kong court found on Thursday the journalist guilty of making false statements to obtain data for a documentary on the police's handling of a mob attack on anti-government protesters, reporters and bystanders in 2019, according to Reuters on Thursday.

Bao Choy, a journalist from RTHK who worked on a documentary about the July 21 attack in Yuen Long in 2019, was arrested on November 3, 2020, over using vehicle registrations for her investigation and was suspected of violating the Road Traffic Ordinance of Hong Kong.

Lawrence Ma, barrister and chairman at the Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation, told the Global Times on Friday that "free press does not confer the right to lie, cheat, mislead or use whatever means to deceive in order to obtain information about the privacy of citizens."

"Press freedom is not a criminal defense and the outcome of this case really enshrines the rule of law by telling people that everyone is equal before law, and no one, no matter how noble their intention was, is above the mighty law," Ma said.

Global Times