Hong Kong reporter says Wall Street Journal fired her over press freedom role
- Selina Cheng, who was elected chairwoman of Hong Kong Journalists Association, says she is ‘appalled’ and ‘deeply shocked’ by move
Newly elected Hong Kong Journalists Association chairwoman Selina Cheng has accused her former employer The Wall Street Journal of pressuring her to pull out of the union’s leadership race last month.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Cheng said she had been fired with immediate effect from the newspaper because of her participation in the union.
The American news outlet told the Post it would not comment on specific employees and maintained it was “a fierce and vocal advocate for press freedom in Hong Kong and around the world”.
Cheng said she was “appalled” and “deeply shocked” that senior editors at the newspaper “would actively violate their employees’ human rights”.
“The chief editor of The Wall Street Journal’s foreign desk, Gordon Fairclough, who is based in the UK, came to Hong Kong to deliver the message to me in person,” she said. “He said my job has been eliminated due to restructuring.”
The newspaper reportedly sacked six editorial staff members based in Hong Kong in early May in a restructuring scheme to focus more on the “biggest money stories” in Asia. According to Cheng, her editor in chief later underscored the importance of the electric vehicle market in mainland China, her focus, as one of the biggest stories in the region.
