While on trial for sedition, Hong Kong editor Chung Pui-kuen became the defiant face of the city’s media over his leadership of Stand News, a now-shuttered news outlet accused of inciting hatred against Beijing.
The 54-year-old served as editor-in-chief of the popular online news portal, which gained prominence for its coverage of Hong Kong’s democracy protests in 2019, as well as the government’s ensuing crackdown.
But in late 2021, police raided Stand’s offices and froze its assets under a sweeping security law imposed by Beijing to quell dissent. Chung and fellow editor Patrick Lam — along with the outlet’s parent company — were charged with sedition.
On Thursday both editors were found guilty, and face up to two years in prison under the colonial-era law.
Their trial — originally scheduled for 20 days but lasting nearly 60 — placed Chung’s newsroom under a microscope.
But on the witness stand last year, Chung stood firm, defending Stand News as a platform for diverse viewpoints and a “manifestation of free speech”.
“Free speech should include room for fierce criticism,” he testified last January.
“For a society like Hong Kong that is not fully democratic, a robust free speech environment is all the more important.”
Business-friendly Hong Kong, a former British colony, was once considered one of the freest places in the world for the media.
It has since plunged in rankings according to an index by Reporters Without Borders, dropping from 18th place worldwide in 2002 to 135th this year.
‘Progressive’ leader
Chung came of age in the twilight years of British rule over Hong Kong.
In the 1990s, he was part of the student union leadership at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, edited the school newspaper, and worked post-graduation at the Confederation of Trade Unions.
“At the time Hong Kong was concerned about democratisation… those traditions were embodied by (Chung), and he was more progressive than many of us,” said cultural scholar Ip Iam-chong, who knew him from school.
“He could be fierce when the situation called for it,” said Choy Chak-hung, a former district councillor who worked with him at the labour union, recalling how his fiery side came out during a protest against the government budget.
“There were eight of us at the public gallery, wearing T-shirts that read ‘robbing the poor to feed the rich'” as a rebuke to the government, said Choy.
By 1997 — the year of Britain’s handover of Hong Kong to China — Chung was a finance reporter for some of the city’s biggest Chinese-language broadsheets, producing hard-hitting coverage on Hong Kong’s richest man Li Ka-shing.
Editor and former colleague Ben Kwok said Chung had a “proud streak”.
“His main motivation is to leave a record,” Kwok said, speculating on Chung’s decision to testify in court.
“But it is a very costly thing to do.”
‘Speak up’
Announcing the launch of Stand News in 2014, Chung wrote that the outlet would stand up for values such as democracy and human rights — hence the name.
“We deeply believe in the importance of independence,” he wrote, adding that Stand News would “speak up for the powerless, the underprivileged and minorities”.
While the publication was a lively arena for bloggers and op-ed writers in its early days, it only became a household name after pro-democracy protests broke out citywide in 2019, with its reporters livestreaming many key moments.
The company went from struggling financially to raising millions from supporters, and its Facebook page accumulated 1.6 million followers in a city of 7.5 million.
After the protests were quashed, Hong Kong authorities took swift action against multiple news outlets.
Chung’s wife, Chan Pui-man, a senior editor at the now-closed Apple Daily, was also arrested and is currently being prosecuted in a separate case under Hong Kong’s national security law.
“The pressure became very real and close to home,” Chung said, holding back tears while testifying in January 2023.
Asked why he didn’t shut down Stand News earlier as pressure mounted, he said the team found their work meaningful, and he did not believe their work would be targeted by the law.
“I believed my colleagues and I, from start to finish, had done nothing wrong,” he said.
