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 | HONG KONG: THE HANDOVER July 3, 1997 |
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Questions asked
in this forum:Should Christians in Hong Kong be concerned for their personal security? What did you see that was beautiful, human and funny? Will Tung Chiwah be independent enough to make critical executive decisions? What's it like with Chinese Liberation Army troops in Hong Kong?
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Read our last forum with Professor DeGolyer in Hong Kong.
June 23, 1997: How the British will retreat from Hong Kong.
June 16, 1997: Will China's communism bring drastic change, or business as usual?
June 10, 1997: Just who is Tung Chee-hwa--the man who will take over Hong Kong when it is returned to Chinese control?
December 17, 1996: Human rights abuses in China.
November 21, 1996: Asia's dynamic and fast-growing economy. .
The NewsHour Asia Index.
A question from Erick Francker of Brussels, Belgium: How many reporters are in Hong Kong? Do you feel like it is a media frenzy? Are they changing the atmosphere by running around trying to record it?
Michael Browning of the Miami Herald responds:
There are over 8,000 reporters in Hong Kong, though most are booked out by the end of the week, as far as I understand. Yes, they have affected the story somewhat, and I have met old friends I have not seen for years, even in the midst of crowds 10,000 strong or more. At the democracy rally in Central Hong Kong Monday night at midnight, there were far more reporters than there were pro-democracy activists. I must say this is the most reporter-rich environment I've seen in a long time.
That said, if you get out of Central, and out of Tsimshatshui, which is the commercial tip of the Kowloon peninsula, you see hardly any reporters at all. I am staying in Kennedy Town, which is a very Chinese neighborhood on the western side of Hong Kong Island and there are no cameras down here at all. You would hardly know there was a 1997 handover. The ordinary people just go about their business unconcerned.
Also there are 6.3 million Hong Kong people. Even 8,000 reporters is not enought to overwhelm this place.
We were all given little press kits and nice handbags by the government upon arrival and there were interesting souvenirs inside: 1997 watches, 1997 caps, 1997 T-shirts and "Handover Notebooks." I have heard these bags are going for $2000 Hong Kong (about $250 U.S.) as souvenirs. I am keeping mine.
Professor DeGolyer of the Hong Kong Transition Project responds:
There are around 8,000 journalists. About 2,000 are local journalists, technical people, etc and the rest the same from overseas. Actually, the journalists have been treated somewhat like tourists by most folks here. Hong Kong is only about 400 square miles, with about 6.3 million people, but we have over 12 million tourists come through every year, and every year Hong Kongers enter and exit the territory some 100 million times, so there is so much movement, and so many people coming and going that a few thousand journalists don't make that much difference to the atmosphere, much less the crowds. What they do change is the international perception and profile of Hong Kong, and the people here tried, as anyone would, to put their best foot forward.
Freelance reporter Samy-Leigh Webster-Woog responds:
There are literally thousands of us here. Over 8,000 officially registered with the folks running the handover ceremonies, and there are a number of other freelancers, etc. who are not registered. These are the official figures, personally I'd estimate quite a few less, maybe around 4,000.
Outside of the main news conferences and official ceremonies though I wouldn't describe it as a frenzy. There are an awful lot of camera crews running around town, shooting film of a lot of street scenes, skylines, etc. However this was really only noticable from about Friday through Monday. Surprisingly people have cleared out of town very quickly.
Most of the media seems to be sticking to reporting the official news, not many seem to be tackling touchier subjects like press freedom say. For all the journalists here actually, I'm very surprised at how few I've seen at press conferences put on by the Hong Kong Jouralists Association for example, or at demonstrations versus the number who showed up fire works displays or news conferences with the new Chief Executive Tung Chee-Wha.
As far as whether we are changing events here, I would have to say yes. Much of what has been presented officially has been strickly for the consumption of the press. More positively though, I think it is the heavy international media presence that is helping to keep the new regime in line (and will do so for some time yet). At a major demonstration by the Alliance (an opposition democratic political party), the police were amazingly well-behaved (even for Western standards), presumably the heavy media presence played a role in this. Local jouralists who are working to preserve press and other freedoms, all say that they need the rest of the world to keep looking at Hong Kong in order to keep the new regime honest and accountable.
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