US-funded Radio Free Asia closes its Hong Kong bureau over safety concerns under new security law

By KANIS LEUNG
Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) — The president of U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia says its Hong Kong bureau has been closed because of safety concerns under a new national security law, deepening worries about the city’s media freedoms. Bay Fang, the president of RFA, said in a statement on Friday that the radio will no longer have full-time staff in Hong Kong, although it would retain its official media registration. She says actions by Hong Kong authorities, including referring to RFA as a “foreign force,” raise serious questions about its ability to operate safely under the new law. Hong Kong, once seen as a bastion of media freedom in Asia, has already changed drastically since Beijing imposed a similar security law in 2020.