Hong Kong arts council urged to ‘rectify’ claims that journalist and cartoonist were not part of arts sector

A Hong Kong press group has urged the city’s arts council to “rectify” claims that a journalist and a political cartoonist were not part of the arts sector.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) penned a letter to the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) on Wednesday to express concerns over the body’s decision to pull funding from the city’s largest theatre awards last week.

The government-funded statutory body for promoting arts development in Hong Kong announced last Thursday that it would halt funding for the Hong Kong Drama Awards, organised by the Hong Kong Federation of Drama Societies, after supporting the event for 24 years.

The HKADC accused the federation of having “deviated from past practices” by inviting “then-controversial” cartoonist Wong Kei-kwan, better known by his pen name Zunzi, and ex-RTHK documentary producer Bao Choy to present awards at last year’s event, rather than theatre veterans, renowned artists and representatives from the government and HKADC.

The pair had also mentioned “red bridge” and “red line” when they presented the awards, and the funding had to be axed to show the council’s “unacceptance,” the body said.

‘Very reasonable’

In the letter addressed to the HKADC chairman Kenneth Fok, the HKJA said on Wednesday that inviting Zunzi and Choy – both members of the press group – to present the theatre awards was “very reasonable,” because they were part of the city’s arts sector.

Zunzi had produced political cartoons for more than three decades and his work was widely praised by the public, HKJA said. The cartoonist had published his satirical takes on Hong Kong’s current affairs in local newspaper Ming Pao for 24 years before the comic strip was suspended last May.

Choy had been prosecuted and convicted for accessing vehicle records for a documentary about the Yuen Long attacks, a watershed event that intensified mistrust in the police force during the 2019 extradition bill protests.

She later took her case to the city’s top court, which quashed her conviction last June.

“In the matter of the axing of the funding, Zunzi and Miss Choy’s roles as news journalists, commentators and producers were clearly targeted,” the HKJA’s Chinese statement read.

The journalists group called on the council to correct the allegations relating to Zunzi and Choy, and said it would be willing to discuss the matter further with the HKADC.

“We respectfully urge you to address the accusations made against the identities, work and background of our two members and rectify the claims promptly,” the press group wrote.

The drama federation said last week that it had not been given a chance to defend itself against the decision to pull its funding. Luther Fung, the body’s chairman, said the federation was not told which lines it had crossed when the HKADC pulled support and called on the council to withdraw its accusations that it had been “harmed” by the awards.

HKADC chairman Fok, also a lawmaker representing the performing arts sector, said the council withdrew funding for the awards to “reduce the risk of potentially breaching” the national security law.

Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.

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