Members of the public are okay to take photos near “prohibited places” belonging to Beijing’s national security office in Hong Kong, authorities have said, after a journalist was reportedly stopped from photographing the locations.
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“There is no problem for members of the public to purely ‘check in’ and take photos near a prohibited place while passing by, without any intention of endangering national security,” the government said in a statement issued on Friday morning.
The phrase “check in” is a literal translation of a Chinese term used on social media for sharing a photo online of a place that someone is visiting.
But the government said law enforcement officers could order someone to leave the premises if that person “deliberately” recorded footage of the entrances or the interior of a prohibited place.
People would also be turned away if they behaviour gave officers “reasonable grounds” to believe they posed a threat to national security, it said.
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The government said anyone who contravened such an order would be committing an offence. Authorities did not specifically address the regulations for members of the press.
The statement was issued after local media reported a photojournalist had been threatened with arrest on Thursday after trying to take pictures of a prohibited location.