A Hong Kong court has convicted Dow Jones Publishing of deterring a Wall Street Journal reporter from taking up a trade union role, in a case that has intensified concerns about press freedom in the city.
Principal magistrate David Cheung ruled on Thursday that the publisher was guilty of preventing or deterring an employee from exercising trade union rights. The court acquitted Dow Jones on a separate charge of dismissing or discriminating against the reporter because she exercised those rights.
Selina Cheng, who covered China’s automobiles and energy sectors for the Wall Street Journal, was dismissed in July 2024, weeks after she was appointed chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association. The company told her at the time that her termination was due to restructuring.
Cheng said her editor had told her that employees should not be seen as advocating for press freedom in places like Hong Kong, and that it could be perceived as a conflict of interest. She said the company required her to seek its approval for outside activities and asked her to leave her then-board position at the association. She alleged her employer had attempted to prevent her from taking up a role in the union.
Court accepts Cheng’s account
Cheung said Cheng’s termination was motivated by a wrongful and unjustified application of the company’s code of conduct when it insisted she needed to seek prior approval to stand as chair of the HKJA. He described the company’s requirement that Cheng seek prior permission to take a union role as an unjustified deterrent of her rights.
The magistrate accepted Cheng’s explanation. He described the former Wall Street Journal reporter as honest and reliable, and said she was clearly motivated by the wish to see justice. During the trial, the defence argued that Cheng was terminated because of redundancy and that the prosecution had not sufficiently proved that the firm’s management instructed Cheng’s supervisor. The defence also accused Cheng of acting in bad faith in a previous hearing.
The judge sided with Dow Jones on the dismissal charge, accepting the argument that Cheng was made redundant because of corporate restructuring and not due to her role as HKJA chair. The right to take part in a trade union is protected by Hong Kong’s labour laws, and an employer found guilty on prevent or deter charges can be fined up to HK$100,000, about $12,750.
Outside court, Cheng told reporters that if reporters’ employment rights are not sufficiently safeguarded, or when their rights are violated and not enforced in law, then they can no longer work safely as reporters.
Publisher disputes ruling
Dow Jones said it disagreed with the ruling and was evaluating next steps. A spokesperson said the Wall Street Journal has a long and proud history as an employer in Hong Kong, and that throughout that time it has remained deeply respectful of its labour laws and supportive of its employees’ rights, while publishing excellent, impartial journalism about the region.
The Wall Street Journal maintained there was no link between Cheng’s role in the Hong Kong union and her termination. At the time of her dismissal, it issued a statement saying the Wall Street Journal has been and continues to be a fierce and vocal advocate for press freedom in Hong Kong and around the world.
Cheng launched the private prosecution against Dow Jones Publishing after losing her job. She had filed a complaint with the Labour Department that did not result in a prosecution. The company pleaded not guilty to both charges. Sentencing is expected at a later date.
Eric Lai, a senior fellow at the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said the Wall Street Journal set a very bad precedent by punishing an employee who was exercising her constitutionally protected rights in Hong Kong. Cheng’s termination alarmed journalists who are already operating in an increasingly restricted media environment in the city, where foreign outlets have traditionally faced less pressure than local news outlets.
The HKJA, founded in 1968, is Hong Kong’s oldest journalist union and one of the last remaining groups advocating for media rights in the city. It has faced increasing pressure since the introduction of a Beijing-imposed national security law in 2020. Hong Kong has fallen sharply in global press freedom rankings since the law’s introduction: Reporters Without Borders ranked the city 73rd in the world in 2019, and by 2026 it had fallen 67 places to 140th out of 180 countries and territories.