Fifteen times Hong Kong made international headlines in 2024

This report was written by Mercedes Hutton and published in Hong Kong Free Press on December 12, 2024. The following edited version is published as part of a content partnership agreement.

Hong Kong made the news on several occasions in 2024, whether for passing new security legislation, censorship laws, or the mystery surrounding the deaths of several monkeys at a city-centre zoo.

HKFP rounded up 15 headline-making moments from the last 12 months.

“Expats” unavailable in Hong Kong

The entertainment world was abuzz in January with the release of Amazon Prime Video’s “Expats”, based on the 2016 book “The Expatriates” by Janice Y. K. Lee. Set against the backdrop of 2014 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and partially filmed in the city amid coronavirus restrictions in 2021, the show sparked controversy when its star Nicole Kidman was allowed to skip hotel quarantine — at the time, arrivals were required to isolate for 21 days.

Officials justified Kidman’s special treatment by saying she was “performing designated professional work… conducive to maintaining the necessary operation and development of Hong Kong’s economy”.

But it was not the city’s unique allure that made the news after the first two episodes premiered globally on January 26. Instead, international media were reporting how the show was not available to audiences in the city.

“It remains unclear whether the city’s government has stepped in to prevent ‘Expats’ from screening or whether Prime Video has given in to self-censorship”, Variety reported. “Both explanations point to an increasingly difficult environment for media and entertainment in the territory, which sometimes brands itself as ‘Asia’s World City’.”

Lionel Messi debacle

Football icon Lionel Messi arrived in Hong Kong in February, where his team, Inter Miami, was set to play a pre-season friendly match against Hong Kong. The match went ahead as planned, but Messi remained on the bench throughout, angering fans who had paid up to HKD 4,880 (USD 627) to see their sporting hero play.

International Maimi CF arrived in Hong Kong on February 2 2024. Image from HK government via the Brandhk Twitter outlet. Used with permission.

After much ado — fans were refunded 50 percent of their original ticket prices, the organiser withdrew its application for HKD 16 million (USD 2.05 million) backing from the government, and lawmaker Regina Ip blamed a political “black hand” behind Messi and Inter Miami “for the deliberate and calculated snub to Hong Kong”. The backlash quickly escalated and spilt over onto the Chinese internet, and Messi apologised. The Athletic reported:

The Inter Miami tour corresponded with renewed attempts by the Hong Kong authorities to restore its image as a global destination for sporting and cultural events after several years of protest against the government and strict lockdowns enforced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

An op-ed published by the Miami Herald suggested such attempts had yet to bear fruit: “This international scandal over Lionel Messi missing a game in Hong Kong is as hilarious as it was predictable”, wrote columnist Greg Cote.

Passage of Article 23

On March 19, Hong Kong’s opposition-free legislature unanimously passed new security legislation, making treason, insurrection and sabotage punishable by up to life in prison and rejecting Western criticism that the law would further restrict the city’s freedoms.

Separate from the Beijing-imposed national security law (NSL) that came into force in June 2020, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance — better known in the city as Article 23 — was welcomed by Beijing and Hong Kong officials, with Chief Executive John Lee calling its passage a “historical moment” and saying that Hong Kong had “finally completed its constitutional duty of legislating Article 23 of the Basic Law”.

However, the law was widely criticised internationally. The New York Times reported that it could damage the city’s status as an international finance hub, the BBC called it “tough”, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation explored how it might “reshape” Hong Kong.

“Glory to Hong Kong” banned

In May, less than a year after a Hong Kong court rejected a government bid to prohibit people from performing or playing the protest song “Glory to Hong Kong” with illegal intent, an appeal court overturned the ruling, effectively banning the 2019 protest anthem.

Glory to Hong Kong. Photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP. Used with permission.

Thus began a series of removals and reuploads of the song on popular streaming sites, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music.

Reporting on the government’s successful appeal, the Guardian said: “The ruling comes amid what critics say is an erosion in Hong Kong’s rule of law and individual rights, which has seen scores of opposition democrats jailed and liberal media outlets shut down.”

35th anniversary of Tiananmen crackdown

This year marked the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, when hundreds, if not thousands, were killed when the People’s Liberation Army dispersed protesters in Beijing on June 4, 1989.

Police patrol through Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, on June 4, 2024, the 35th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Used with permission.

Previously one of the only places on Chinese soil that marked the occasion, there have been no public commemorations in Hong Kong since 2019, a change that was reported by Nikkei Asia, which described the city as “muzzled”. National Public Radio noted that “heavy security” was in place across cities in mainland China and Hong Kong ahead of and on the anniversary date.

In the days running up to June 4, Hong Kong made its first arrests under Article 23, among them detained rights activist Chow Hang-tung, who organised the Tiananmen crackdown vigils. The BBC reported that Amnesty International had called the arrests a “shameful attempt at suppressing peaceful commemoration of the Tiananmen crackdown”.

Performance artist Sanmu Chan was briefly detained by police on June 3rd after writing the Chinese characters for “8964” with his finger in the air, referencing the June 4, 1989 crackdown in YYMD format. The AP reported that Chan’s detention underlined “the city’s shrinking freedom of expression”.

Departure of foreign judges

Five foreign judges left Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal in 2024, but none so spectacularly as Jonathan Sumption. Soon after announcing his resignation as an overseas non-permanent judge on the apex court, Sumption wrote an op-ed for the Financial Times, in which he said that Hong Kong was “slowly becoming a totalitarian state”.

Sumption also appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, saying: “The problem in Hong Kong has been building up over the last four years, and I think all the judges on the court feel concerned about this… I have reached the point eventually where I don’t think that my continuing presence on the court is serving any useful purpose.”

HKJA head fired by Wall Street Journal

When Selina Cheng, chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), was fired by The Wall Street Journal in July, just weeks after she was elected to lead the press union, her dismissal was reported by news outlets across the globe.

Selina Cheng, chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, speaks to reporters after being fired from The Wall Street Journal, allegedly over her role in the press union, on July 17, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Used with permission.

While the newspaper said Cheng’s dismissal was down to “restructuring”, Cheng said it came after she was directed to withdraw from the HKJA leadership election by a supervisor in the UK.

Cheng said the company had told her that employees of The Wall Street 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”.

Al Jazeera reported: “The Wall Street Journal is embroiled in a controversy over press freedom after one of its reporters said she was fired for taking a leadership role in Hong Kong’s biggest media union amid deteriorating civil liberties in the Chinese territory.”

First Article 23 prosecution for T-shirt

On September 19, Chu Kai-pong became the first person to be jailed under Article 23 after he pleaded guilty to one count of “doing with a seditious intention an act or acts that had a seditious intention”.

Chu was sentenced to one year and two months in prison for wearing a T-shirt with a 2019 protest slogan on it — “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” — which had been ruled to carry secessionist connotations — an offence under the national security law.

“Hong Kong man jailed for ‘seditious’ T-shirt”, reported the BBC, while the English-language edition of Le Monde ran the story with the headline: “In Hong Kong, a young man sentenced for wearing a ‘Liberate Hong Kong’ T-shirt”.

Stand News editors jailed for sedition

Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, both former top editors of the independent media outlet Stand News, were found guilty in August of taking part in a conspiracy to publish and reproduce “seditious” materials.

Former Stand News editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen leaves District Court in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, on August 29th, 2024, after being found guilty of conspiring to publish “seditious” materials. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Used with permission.

The following month, the pair were in court again to hear their sentences. Chung was handed 21 months behind bars, while Lam, who has a rare kidney condition, was able to walk free despite receiving an initial sentence of 14 months. Both spent almost a year in pre-trial detention.

Their trial was widely reported in international media, with the BBC saying: “The case has drawn international scrutiny and condemnation from Western countries.” The AP, meanwhile, said the case was “widely seen as an indicator of media freedom in the city, once hailed as a beacon of press freedom in Asia”.

A dozen monkeys died at the HK Zoo

The October deaths of 12 monkeys kept at the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens as a result of sepsis stemming from melioidosis infection were reported by media outlets across the world.

When the first monkeys were found dead, CBS News focused on the deaths of three cotton-top Tamarins, “considered one of the most endangered species of primates in the world”.

Al Jazeera reported: “Activists said the incident raises concerns that keeping animals in captivity can increase the risk that diseases such as Mpox could jump to humans.”

First dinosaur fossils found

In late October, the government announced that dinosaur fossils had been found in Hong Kong for the first time, on a remote island in the northeast of the city.

CNN spoke to experts in palaeontology, who said, “The landmark discovery is a big deal for Hong Kong, a city with a complex geological history and ever-changing weather patterns.”

45 pro-democracy figures jailed

The sentencing of 45 prominent pro-democracy figures in November attracted a lot of media attention, with several outlets — the Guardian and CBS News among them — noting in their headlines that their jail terms sparked “outrage” or “criticism” internationally.

47 activists from HK pro-democracy camp were charged with subversion under the National Security Law. Image from the Stand News. Used with permission.

The democrats were sentenced to up to 10 years in prison over their involvement in an unofficial primary election designed to help the pan-democratic camp win a majority in the legislature. The court ruled that constituted a conspiracy to subvert state power, an offence under the national security law.

“Anywhere else, it wouldn’t have been controversial,” The New York Times began its report. “But this was Hong Kong, just after the imposition of a national security law by Beijing, and officials had warned that even a straw poll would be taken as defiance”, it continued.

Jimmy Lai begins testimony

Jailed media mogul Jimmy Lai, who is on trial for conspiring to collude with foreign forces under Beijing’s national security law, took to the witness stand on November 20th, and many of the world’s media outlets were in court to hear him speak publicly for the first time since he was detained in December 2020.

Jimmy Lai. Kelly Ho from HKFP.

Reuters spoke to people who had waited overnight in the rain to secure a place in the public gallery to hear Lai’s testimony. “Apple Daily was the voice of many Hongkongers… It’s my political expression to let him [Lai] know I support him. He’s done a lot for Hong Kong”, one retiree told the news agency.

Describing Lai as “defiant”, the Guardian reported that he “stridently defended himself against the charges and spoke proudly of the media company he founded, which has been a thorn in the side of Beijing and the Hong Kong government for decades”. The trial will continue into 2025, with Lai pleading not guilty.

LGBTQ+ rights ruling

Hong Kong’s top court on November 26th affirmed same-sex married couples’ housing and inheritance rights, handing a landmark victory to the city’s LGBTQ+ community following government appeals against previous court rulings.

The Independent cited Jerome Yau, co-founder of the non-profit Hong Kong Marriage Equality, who said after the ruling that the court had made it “very clear” there was no distinction between same-sex and heterosexual marriage: “So I think the next question is, if they are the same, why we should treat them differently?”

Nick Infinger holds a rainbow flag outside Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal on November 26, 2024. Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP. Used with permission.

National security arrest warrants

On December 24, national security police issued arrest warrants for six overseas activists, placing bounties of HKD 1 million on each of their heads. It marked the third round of arrest warrants issued since the security law was imposed. Police last year issued arrest warrants for eight activists in July and a further five last December.

“According to the warrants, the six are wanted for national security offences such as secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces. They include Tony Chung, the former leader of now-defunct pro-independence group Studentlocalism”, The Washington Post reported.

Also wanted by Hong Kong police are: ex-district councillor Carmen Lau, now an activist with the US-based NGO Hong Kong Democracy Council; Chloe Cheung, an activist with the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong; political commentator Chung Kim-wah, formerly a pollster at the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute; ex-TVB actor Joseph Tay, who co-founded the Canada-based NGO HongKonger Station; and YouTuber Victor Ho.

According to Al Jazeera they join a list of “19 campaigners accused of loosely-defined offences of secession, subversion or collusion”.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang separately invoked powers under Article 23 on December 24th to cancel the passports of seven overseas activists: Ted Hui, Anna Kwok, Elmer Yuen, Dennis Kwok, Kevin Yam, Frances Hui and Joey Siu.

The seven, whom Tang declared as “absconders”, were also barred from dealing with funds in Hong Kong.