Editor’s note for Thursday, April 22, 2021

My thoughts today:

A freelance journalist in Hong Kong with RTHK, Choy Yuk-Ling (蔡玉玲 Cài Yùlíng, a.k.a. Bao Choy), was found guilty yesterday of “making false statements to obtain data for a documentary on the police handling of a mob attack on pro-democracy protesters, reporters and bystanders in 2019.”

Simply put, she was punished for accessing public records, a normal part of any journalist’s job.

We first declared the death of press freedom in Hong Kong in 2018, when the authorities rejected a visa application from Victor Mallet of the Financial Times. Although some reporters and editors continue to try to do their jobs and hold the authorities to account, Choy’s punishment is a sign that it will be a more and more difficult battle.

Meanwhile, Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 made some climate commitments at a global leaders summit (Xinhua readout). Also today, China’s National Energy Administration said the country would cut its coal use to below 56% of energy consumption in 2021.

Our word of the day is one of Xi’s climate promises: “China will strictly control coal-fired power generation projects” (中国将严控煤电项目 zhōngguó jiāng yánkòng méidiàn xiàngmù).

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief