A Hong Kong newspaper yesterday scrapped a satirical cartoon after a decades-long run following a series of complaints by authorities, the cartoonist said.
The Ming Pao said in a notice that from Sunday it would scrap the comic strip by Wong Kei-kwan (黃紀鈞), one of Hong Kong’s most prominent political cartoonists, which has been running since 1983 and is famous for its satirical take on Hong Kong and Chinese politics and society.
The Ming Pao did not elaborate on the decision and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Photo: AP
Wong, who goes by the pen name Zunzi, said that he had been told numerous times by the newspaper of official complaints about his work, most recently this week.
“My sense is that the pressure is building up and it won’t stop without change,” said the 67-year-old Wong, who sports a silver moustache and beard.
Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang (鄧炳強) last month called one of the cartoons “misleading” after it depicted a man saying that a recent ramp-up in Hong Kong security spending would mean more prisoners, more prisons, more prison guards and more judges.
Wong appeared resigned to the end of his cartoon strip, saying that “the situation continues to develop in a bad direction.”
“There are still many journalists who continue to speak out on different platforms and comics are only one form,” he said. “I will continue to speak out when I have the opportunity.”
The comic strip had been one of the few remaining spaces for unflinching criticism in the Hong Kong media following China’s imposition of a sweeping National Security Law in 2020 following months of democracy protests in 2019.
Critics say that media freedom in the former British colony is being eroded.
The territory, once a base for international media covering not only China, but the region, and home to a spirited domestic media, ranked 140th out of 180 regions in a global press freedom index compiled by media rights group Reporters without Borders.
It ranked 73rd in 2019.
Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly said that media freedoms are respected and enshrined in law.
However, police have raided and shut down several media outlets, including Hong Kong’s Apple Daily newspaper and the Stand News news Web site.
Public broadcaster RTHK has cut satirical shows and toned down its coverage after being criticized by politicians and officials.
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