Hong Kong TV License Row Continues

(Credit to Singpao)

Since the government denied the Hong Kong Television Network a free-to-air television license in mid-October, protests have been mounted, calling for the government to overturn their original decision and grant a broadcasting permit to a startup operator.

Thousands rallied outside the government headquarters on October 20, and about a dozen demonstrators have since camped outside the government buildings, and planned to stay until at least November 6. Campers have stated that they are simply asking for transparency in the government decisions, as this is more about justice and transparency for Hong Kong than just a TV license.” The protesters are seeking to repeat the success of a 10-day rally last October, when students camping outside government headquarters led to the scrapping a three-year deadline to implement national education classes, which the demonstrators said favored China’s Communist Party.

The protests reflect concerns that Hong Kong’s policies lack accountability and may undermine freedom of speech in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. Discontent is high as recent polls showed that public sentiment is now lower than in 2003, when anger over the proposed Article 23 national security law led to a 500,000-strong march.

A group of bloggers launched the campaign for TV viewers to turn their sets off between 7pm and 11pm on October 30 to express outrage over the lack of competition and diverse programs. Various celebrities have voiced their support for this action. Some leading actors and actress who are apprehensive about the effect on their shows’ ratings or are disappointed that their hardwork may not be enjoyed, have said that they would respect the decision of the Hong Kong people, because, after all Hong Kong is a society of freedoms.

The government had continued to cite the Executive Council's confidentiality rule and judicial proceedings, the government has refused to offer comprehensive reasons behind the decision. As of November 3, Pan-democrat lawmaker Charles Mok's bid to invoke the LegCo (Powers & Privileges) Ordinance is still short of the number required from functional constituency lawmakers. While the vote among directly elected lawmakers seems sewn up in favour of the motion, four more functional constituency lawmakers are still required for the measure to pass. Additionally, the Liberal Party also joined the pan-democrats in urging the administration to re-consider its decision. Liberal Party leader James Tien Pei-chun, said that his party will vote in favour of the motion at the meeting on November 6 as long as the wording and scope of the motion does not violate the mandates of the Liberal Party, adding that the Party’s goal is to obtain the consultant’s report and Broadcasting Authority’s documents, which the government have claimed to be the basis of only granting two television licenses, rather than the privileged ExCo minutes.

Johnson Yeung Ching-yin, deputy secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, said: "Many university students will also join the campaign tonight to express their aspirations on having more competition in the local free-TV market."

A group of Hong Kong students from the University of California, Berkeley and other universities in UK, US, Canada and Australia have initiated an online petition for overseas students to protest against the lack of government transparency and accountability on the TV license rejection, as well as to put pressure on the lawmakers to invoke the LegCo (Power and Privileges) at their next meeting on November 6 for an investigation into the licence decision. More information canb e found at http://www.facebook.com/tvpetition and http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/hkospetition/

As Hong Kongers around the world continue to express their ire over this decision, the focus turns now to the LegCo meeting and voting this Wednesday.