WASHINGTON - In light of Hong Kong’s passage of Article 23, Bay Fang, President and CEO of Radio Free Asia (RFA), made the following statement about the organization’s plans in Hong Kong - which is available below in Cantonese:
Concerns about the safety of RFA staff and reporters in Hong Kong have led us to restructure our on-the-ground operations there. While RFA will retain its official media registration, at this time we no longer have full-time personnel in Hong Kong and have closed our physical bureau. Actions by Hong Kong authorities, including referring to RFA as a “foreign force,” raise serious questions about our ability to operate in safety with the enactment of Article 23.
Since opening our Hong Kong bureau in 1996, RFA has operated as a private news organization, its editorial independence safeguarded by a firewall endorsed by the same body that funds it, the U.S. Congress. We recognize RFA’s frontline status - as it is among the last independent news organizations reporting on events happening in Hong Kong in Cantonese and Mandarin. This restructuring means that RFA will shift to using a different journalistic model reserved for closed media environments. I commend RFA’s journalists and staff for making this difficult transition possible. For our audiences in Hong Kong and mainland China, who rely on RFA’s timely, uncensored journalism: rest assured, our programming and content will continue without disruption.
近期對自由亞洲電台（RFA）在香港職員和記者安全的考慮，促使我們調整在香港的運作模式。RFA會繼續保留在香港的新聞機構官方注冊，但目前不會再保留全職員工，並已關閉實體辦事處。香港官方的行動，包括把RFA視作“外國勢力”，令人嚴重質疑，我們在“23條”相關法律生效後還能否在香港安全地運作。
RFA自1996年設立香港辦事處以來，一直以私營新聞機構運作。RFA的編輯獨立自主權受到防火牆的保護，該防火牆得到了向其提供資助的美國國會的支持。我們肯定RFA香港辦事處的前沿地位，因為它是當地最後一批以粵語和普通話報道當地新聞的獨立新聞機構之一。此次調整意味着RFA將轉向採用一種可應對封閉媒體環境的不同的新聞模式。我特此表揚RFA的記者和職員可以完成這樣困難的工作轉型。對於身在香港和中國大陸、依賴於RFA及時且不受審查的新聞的受眾們，我們保證，RFA的新聞節目和內容會繼續下去，不受中斷。