On July 5, an “out of character” picture of Chu Pui-hing, director of broadcasting of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), dominated the front page of Hong Kong newspapers. Mr. Chu was caught ducking behind a prostitute when the paparazzi, following a local singer, accidentally ran into him outside a karaoke bar. Though the incident looked like just another sex scandal, it could not have happened at a worse time. In the coming weeks, the Hong Kong government will issue a paper for public consultation that will determine the possibilities of setting up an entirely new public-service broadcaster to replace RTHK, a station that is often criticized by the pro-Beijing camp as too anti-government. With the heated discussion surrounding the scandal, liberals now fear that Mr. Chu’s improper behavior will be manipulated by the government to gain public support for rooting out the controversial station. 

Unlike the more well-known public broadcasters like BBC and PBS, RTHK currently belongs under a government department and receives annual funding directly from it. In spite of this connection, RTHK enjoys a high degree of editorial independence. Though RTHK is not an outright anti-government or anti-Beijing broadcaster, a number of its programs and reports over the last decade have left Beijing and the HKSAR government uneasy; in one case, the station was severely attacked for running a satire comparing the quality of governance under the then Chief Executive, Tung Chee-hwa, to that of the Taliban administration. In addition, its attempt to air interviews with Taiwan officials in 1999 and 2002, including one with Taiwan’s Vice President Annette Liu, also provoked Beijing’s anger. It is true that the relationship between the government and the RTHK is not always so tense. However, repeated incidents, like the ones mentioned above, also made Beijing and the HK government realize that governance can be much smoother without the broadcaster.

Ever since Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, the HKSAR government has sought to limit freedom of expression in the media, as politician Emily Lau pointed out. Although Beijing’s behind-the-scene intimidations have resulted in a declining number of media outlets that are willing to be critical of the government, RTHK still stood strong, at least until Chu’s ducking. The public’s support for RTHK was particularly illustrated by a university survey conducted last year, showing that over 70 per cent of Hong Kongers had an overall good impression of the broadcaster. This, however, does not seem to undermine the government’s determination to replace RTHK with a propaganda machine. In fact, in the same year, the government under the current chief executive Donald Tsang delivered a report that proposed setting up an entirely new public service broadcaster to be run by government-appointed officials. The report did not directly address the effects that it will have on RTHK’s future except to state that it will not be considered suitable for such conversion, and thus its role will inevitably be reduced. That is why, to a lot of pro-democracy liberals, this proposal signifies a death penalty for RTHK that will be hard to overthrow. Although a Save RTHK Campaign has been launched by 16 organizations to stop the government from closing down RTHK, their efforts suffered a great blow as a result of Chu’s scandal. Worse still, Mr. Chu announced several days after the ducking-behind-a-prostitute photo hit the newsstand that he will be retiring 10 months ahead of schedule to limit the damage that the incident has on RTHK’s morale.

Though up-to-date studies regarding the public’s take on RTHK’s future after Mr. Chu’s embarrassment have yet to be released, it is quite predictable that support for the station will decline. Amid the negative outlook towards Hong Kong’s media freedom in the coming years, optimists argue that RTHK can still serve a vital role in stimulating Hong Kong’s political discussion even with the set up of a new public service broadcaster. In reality, however, one needs to ask: if the government truly intends no harm for the RTHK, then why did the review committee’s report explicitly rule out the possibility for RTHK to transform into the new public service broadcaster it proposed? All evidence suggests that the government intends to slowly reduce the role that RTHK has in the public to minimal. And with the recent scandal, the greater public’s confidence in RTHK is bound to suffer. It looks like RTHK staff will soon be following in Mr. Chu’s footsteps—ducking for cover.

References

Augustine Tan, “Sex scandal blocks Hong Kong’s airwaves,” Asia Times Online, July 17, 2007. (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/china/IG17Ad01.html)

Diane Lee and Una So, “RTHK chief quits amid media frenzy,” The Standard, July 10, 2007. (http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=12&art_id=48691&sid=14404248&con_type=)

Donald Greenlees and David Lague, “Broadcaster feels a chill in Hong Kong,” International Herald Tribune, July 12, 2007. (http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/11/business/hkradio.php)

“Remarks by Director of Broadcasting, Mr. Chu Pui-hing, at the International Conference on Public Service Broadcasting,” RTHK Press Release, June 21, 2006.

(http://www.rthk.org.hk/press/eng/20060621_67_121015.html)

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