Editor’s note for Friday, February 19, 2021

My thoughts today:

Critical media is dying in Hong Kong, by a thousand cuts. Here is the latest: “We all saw this coming but here it is: death of RTHK as an independent public broadcaster as director is replaced by government apparatchik,” is a tweet from Hong Kong-based corporate lawyer and author Antony Dapiran.

Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is owned by the Hong Kong government, but has a long tradition of widely-respected, independent reporting. The new appointment (details here) came after a Hong Kong government report found “deficiencies” in RTHK’s editorial management.

In another sign of the times, the former head of China’s top procuratorate, a spritely 53-year-old named Wáng Sōngmiáo 王松苗, has been appointed as top dog at Beijing’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong, the organ that now holds the real power in the city.

Interestingly, his predecessor, Wén Hóngwǔ 文宏武 “is reportedly organizing a culture company to be launched in Hong Kong in a bid to increase China’s soft power,” according to the Apple Daily.

As critical voices in Hong Kong are silenced, we can expect the people like Mr. Wen to be given a much larger loudspeaker.

Our word of the day is magnanimity and high sense of responsibility as a major country (负责任大国的气度担当 fù zérèn dàguó de qìdù dāndāng). These are the qualities that China’s foreign ministry today said China had exhibited in its handling of the border conflict with India, including with the disclosure of military fatalities.

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief