Hong Kong’s new licensing requirements will force the city’s television and radio broadcasters to air weekly messages promoting the national security law and “Chinese identity.”
The new mandate, released on Tuesday, applies to three free-to-air television channels and two radio stations, and was accepted by city leader John Lee.
New Mandate
Its stipulations, which the Hong Kong Communications Authority recommended, require licensed stations to “broadcast no less than 30 minutes of programmes on national education, national identity and [the] National Security Law per week.”
#HongKong will further consolidate its mechanisms to safeguard national security by finishing the local legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law this year, and focus on strengthening its ties with the Chinese mainland and the rest of the world, John Lee Ka-chiu said on Feb 14. pic.twitter.com/jVJu7rR750
— Info Guangdong (@iGuangdong) February 15, 2023
In addition, they will continue to air the required hour of current affairs every day.
Television stations are no longer required to broadcast programming “wholly of Hong Kong origin,” allowing the national security segments to be produced outside of the Chinese autonomous territory.
Tightening the Grip of the National Security Law
Hong Kong crackdown.#AFPGraphics on 47 defendants on trial in Hong Kong under the Beijing-imposed 2020 National Security Law pic.twitter.com/bEIvrqTEtL
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) February 6, 2023
At a press briefing on Tuesday, Lee, a pro-Beijing leader, said he supported the preparation of additional national security legislation by 2024.
The leader justified his position by saying that under the “present complex international relations,” there remains a “possibility that national security risks are lurking in Hong Kong.”
This move comes at the heels of the financial hub opening its largest judicial case under the National Security Law to date, involving 47 pro-democracy activists accused of subversion.