{"id":45669,"date":"2024-07-25T23:15:45","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T15:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/?p=45669"},"modified":"2024-07-26T04:04:21","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T20:04:21","slug":"wall-street-journal-fires-new-head-of-hong-kong-journalists-union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/","title":{"rendered":"Wall Street Journal fires new head of Hong Kong journalists\u2019 union"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>International solidarity needed against the union-busters<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hong Liuxing and Garret Johnston<\/p>\n<p>The Wall Street Journal, owned by the reactionary union-busting billionaire Rupert Murdoch, has fired journalist Selina Cheng after her election to the post of chairperson of the city\u2019s biggest press union, the Hong Kong Journalists\u2019 Association (HKJA).<\/p>\n<p>Cheng was elected chairperson of the union on 22 June and has been a member of its board for three years. According to a statement issued by Cheng, \u201cThe editor said employees of the Journal should not be seen as advocating for press freedom in a place like Hong Kong, even though they can in Western countries, where it is already established.\u201d She says she was pressured by her bosses to withdraw from the election, which she refused.<\/p>\n<p>Since the defeat of Hong Kong\u2019s 2019 mass struggle, 176 trade unions have been disbanded in the territory. Prominent trade unionists have been jailed under the draconian National Security Law imposed by the Chinese dictatorship (CCP) in 2020. Some could face life sentences on trumped up subversion charges.<\/p>\n<p>It is no coincidence that dictatorial and repressive regimes suppress unions and workers\u2019 rights. This is not only to shift the balance of power in the economy even further towards the capitalists, but also because they fear the crucial role independent trade unions can play at the heart of any mass struggle for democratic rights.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WSJ an enabler<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The sacking of Cheng exposes the hypocrisy of the \u201cfree\u201d capitalist media when it comes to democratic and labour rights. Clearly, the bosses of the Wall Street Journal are not the crusaders for democracy that they portray themselves as. The Chinese dictatorship is of course cheering this development, with its attack dogs from the Global Times celebrating that the \u201cmalignant tumour\u201d of the HKJA has been dealt a blow.<\/p>\n<p>The CCP\u2019s attack on trade unions and media in Hong Kong aims to completely dismantle the territory\u2019s former very fragile democratic rights. It wants to reduce these to the same level as in China, where independent trade unions are illegal. The WSJ\u2019s flagrant attack on the HKJA and trade unionism in Hong Kong make it an enabler of the CCP\u2019s union-busting policies.<\/p>\n<p>At first sight, this could appear as something of a throwback to the time before the US-China imperialist conflict. In only a few years, Western media has shifted from a position of fawning on the CCP dictatorship and kowtowing to its every undemocratic demand, to a more hostile stance. This shift is not due to a sudden discovery that China has a repressive authoritarian government, but rather that the media \u2013 ultimately a tool of the ruling class and billionaire press barons like Murdoch \u2013 must reflect the new anti-China thrust of government policy in Western countries.<\/p>\n<p>But clearly, US capitalism\u2019s new \u201cdemocratic\u201d front against the CCP does not extend to recognising trade union rights in Hong Kong. This shows that workers fighting for democratic rights and freedom of the press can only rely on their own strength and organization.<\/p>\n<p>In Hong Kong, many media workers joined the HKJA during the 2019 mass struggle as a vehicle to fight back against police brutality. On almost all demonstrations reporters were being deliberately targeted by police attacks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>International solidarity\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As Selina Cheng herself states, \u201cReporters in Hong Kong know their editors or employers don\u2019t always have their backs.\u201d According to China Media Project this has not just been the Wall Street Journal. Interviews with other Hong Kong reporters confirm there is widespread pressure from the bosses of foreign press to dissuade them from getting involved with the union.<\/p>\n<p>The union for US workers at the WSJ, the Independent Association of Publishers\u2019 Employees local 1096, have rightly spoken out in defence of Selina Cheng. Calling out the management\u2019s anti-democratic and anti-union stance is welcome. But this is also a key lesson: Western media bosses are never genuine defenders of democratic rights.<\/p>\n<p>To defend union rights and press freedoms, media workers and the wider working class must stand together in Hong Kong, the US, China and internationally against all attacks whether from pseudo-democratic or authoritarian capitalism. We need international solidarity against all union-busting companies and regimes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Media workers and the wider working class must stand together in Hong Kong, the US, China and internationally against all attacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":45670,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[133,124],"tags":[1329,4490,36872],"class_list":{"0":"post-45669","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hong-kong","8":"category-news","9":"tag-democracy-struggle","10":"tag-hong-kong-en","11":"tag-workplace-union"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Wall Street Journal fires new head of Hong Kong journalists\u2019 union - China Worker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Media workers and the wider working class must stand together in Hong Kong, the US, China and internationally against all attacks.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wall Street Journal fires new head of Hong Kong journalists\u2019 union - China Worker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Media workers and the wider working class must stand together in Hong Kong, the US, China and internationally against all attacks.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"China Worker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-25T15:15:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-25T20:04:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2024\/07\/IMG_8469-Copy-e1721933194562.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1133\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"-\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"-\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/25\\\/45669\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/25\\\/45669\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"-\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/09dd35f72246605a26e2911a83350b91\"},\"headline\":\"Wall Street Journal fires new head of Hong Kong journalists\u2019 union\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-25T15:15:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-25T20:04:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/25\\\/45669\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":707,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/25\\\/45669\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/IMG_8469-Copy-e1721933194562.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"democracy struggle\",\"Hong Kong\",\"Workplace &amp; Union\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Hong Kong\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/25\\\/45669\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/25\\\/45669\\\/\",\"name\":\"Wall Street Journal fires new head of Hong Kong journalists\u2019 union - China Worker\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/25\\\/45669\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/25\\\/45669\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/IMG_8469-Copy-e1721933194562.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-25T15:15:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-25T20:04:21+00:00\",\"description\":\"Media workers and the wider working class must stand together in Hong Kong, the US, China and internationally against all attacks.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/25\\\/45669\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/25\\\/45669\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/25\\\/45669\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/IMG_8469-Copy-e1721933194562.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/IMG_8469-Copy-e1721933194562.jpg\",\"width\":1512,\"height\":1133},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/25\\\/45669\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9801\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Wall Street Journal fires new head of Hong Kong journalists\u2019 union\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u793e\u6703\u4e3b\u7fa9\u884c\u52d5\",\"description\":\"Solidarity, Struggle, Socialism\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Chinaworker.info\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/logo-sa.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/logo-sa.png\",\"width\":120,\"height\":126,\"caption\":\"Chinaworker.info\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/SocialistAction\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/socialistactionhk\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/09dd35f72246605a26e2911a83350b91\",\"name\":\"-\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/81691d48a634df8ad2d395a2e450edf8a6c1e24b304bd2f1536e98806c0a7ce9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/81691d48a634df8ad2d395a2e450edf8a6c1e24b304bd2f1536e98806c0a7ce9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/81691d48a634df8ad2d395a2e450edf8a6c1e24b304bd2f1536e98806c0a7ce9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"-\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/author\\\/norman\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wall Street Journal fires new head of Hong Kong journalists\u2019 union - China Worker","description":"Media workers and the wider working class must stand together in Hong Kong, the US, China and internationally against all attacks.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wall Street Journal fires new head of Hong Kong journalists\u2019 union - China Worker","og_description":"Media workers and the wider working class must stand together in Hong Kong, the US, China and internationally against all attacks.","og_url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/","og_site_name":"China Worker","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction","article_published_time":"2024-07-25T15:15:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-07-25T20:04:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1512,"height":1133,"url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2024\/07\/IMG_8469-Copy-e1721933194562.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"-","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"-","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/"},"author":{"name":"-","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/09dd35f72246605a26e2911a83350b91"},"headline":"Wall Street Journal fires new head of Hong Kong journalists\u2019 union","datePublished":"2024-07-25T15:15:45+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-25T20:04:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/"},"wordCount":707,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2024\/07\/IMG_8469-Copy-e1721933194562.jpg","keywords":["democracy struggle","Hong Kong","Workplace &amp; Union"],"articleSection":["Hong Kong","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/","name":"Wall Street Journal fires new head of Hong Kong journalists\u2019 union - China Worker","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2024\/07\/IMG_8469-Copy-e1721933194562.jpg","datePublished":"2024-07-25T15:15:45+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-25T20:04:21+00:00","description":"Media workers and the wider working class must stand together in Hong Kong, the US, China and internationally against all attacks.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2024\/07\/IMG_8469-Copy-e1721933194562.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2024\/07\/IMG_8469-Copy-e1721933194562.jpg","width":1512,"height":1133},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2024\/07\/25\/45669\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9801","item":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Wall Street Journal fires new head of Hong Kong journalists\u2019 union"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/","name":"\u793e\u6703\u4e3b\u7fa9\u884c\u52d5","description":"Solidarity, Struggle, Socialism","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization","name":"Chinaworker.info","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2021\/04\/logo-sa.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2021\/04\/logo-sa.png","width":120,"height":126,"caption":"Chinaworker.info"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/socialistactionhk\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/09dd35f72246605a26e2911a83350b91","name":"-","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/81691d48a634df8ad2d395a2e450edf8a6c1e24b304bd2f1536e98806c0a7ce9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/81691d48a634df8ad2d395a2e450edf8a6c1e24b304bd2f1536e98806c0a7ce9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/81691d48a634df8ad2d395a2e450edf8a6c1e24b304bd2f1536e98806c0a7ce9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"-"},"url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/author\/norman\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45669"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45687,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45669\/revisions\/45687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}