Newly elected Hong Kong Journalists Association chairwoman Selina Cheng has accused her former employer The Wall Street Journal of pressuring her to pull out of the union’s leadership race last month.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Cheng said she had been fired from the newspaper because of her participation in the union.
She said she was “appalled” and “deeply shocked” that senior editors at the newspaper “would actively violate their employees’ human rights”.
“The chief editor of The Wall Street Journal’s foreign desk, Gordon Fairclough, who is based in the UK, came to Hong Kong to deliver the message to me in person,” she said. “He said my job has been eliminated due to restructuring.”
Cheng also said that management at the paper had warned her against being “seen as advocating for press freedom in a place like Hong Kong”.
“It is obvious to me that the fear and unease the press in Hong Kong have been facing for years now has equally affected the Journal’s management, even though they’re far away on different continents,” she said.
Dow Jones, which owns the newspaper, confirmed there were “some personnel changes” on Wednesday, but refused to provide further details.
“The Wall Street Journal has been and continues to be a fierce and vocal advocate for press freedom in Hong Kong and around the world,” a spokesman said.
Cheng was voted chairwoman during the association’s election on June 22 and she assumed office on July 1.
She has not published any story on the newspaper’s website since winning the election.
