Hong Kong remains at 140th place on Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) global press freedom index of 180 countries and territories, with the NGO highlighting the 20-year sentence handed down to Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai earlier this year.

The press freedom watchdog released its annual index on Thursday, ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Sunday.

Hong Kong’s position is unchanged from last year. At 140th place, between Rwanda and Syria, the city also remains in the “red zone” – meaning a “very serious” situation.

It has tumbled down press freedom indices since Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong in 2020, in the wake of the pro-democracy protests and unrest that began the summer before.

In 2019, it was at 73rd place. From 2021 to 2022, it fell from 80 to 148, after independent media outlets Apple Daily, Stand News and Citizen News shuttered under authorities’ pressure.

Hong Kong has ranked higher in subsequent years, though RSF has said this was mostly due to changing situations in other places. The city’s press freedom score has fallen consistently, from 41.64 in 2022 to 39.49 this year.

RSF said in a press release that press freedom was at a “25-year low” across the world, with the average score of all countries and territories hitting a record low.

See also: Explainer: The decline of Hong Kong’s press freedom under the national security law

The US fell seven places, and other countries in the Americas, including Ecuador and Peru, also dropped.

Meanwhile, Norway ranks No. 1 for the 10th straight year, followed by the Netherlands, Estonia, Denmark and Sweden.

In Asia, Taiwan is the highest-ranked place at 28. China placed 178th, just after Iran, with North Korea and Eritrea at the bottom of the list.

‘Systemic collapse’

RSF’s Asia Pacific advocacy manager, Aleksandra Bielakowska, told HKFP on Wednesday that Hong Kong had seen a “systemic collapse” in its press freedoms.

The city ranked 18th in 2002, the first year the index was published, she said.

“Hong Kong used to be a stronghold of free press, not only regionally but globally,” Bielakowska said.

She said that in recent years, authorities have been pursuing different ways of dissuading the media from independent reporting, including denying visas to journalists or barring them from entering Hong Kong.

Reporters have also reported being followed by unknown individuals. Most recently, in April, media outlet InMedia said its journalists had received harassing text messages “in recent months” and suspected they were being stalked after work.

When the Hong Kong Journalists Association wrote to the Security Bureau about it, the bureau accused the association of making “groundless speculations” that law enforcement was following reporters.

Bielakowska said this was in line with the authorities’ trend of dismissing claims of harassment of reporters as “rumours.” She said there were “strong indications” that authorities were targeting reporters via “centralised operations.”

Declining press freedom

In a press release published on Thursday, RSF referred to the February jailing of pro-democracy media mogul Lai, the founder of now-defunct newspaper Apple Daily.

The watchdog wrote that “a draconian national security law has allowed the authorities to imprison independent publisher Jimmy Lai, who was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison.”

Lai’s sentence is the longest to be meted out under the national security law so far. He was found guilty in December of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and conspiring to publish seditious materials.

Six former Apple Daily employees were also jailed for up to 10 years, with judges saying they played “affirmative and extensive roles.”

In recent years, there have been reports of journalists being denied visas or entry to Hong Kong. The independent media sector has been targeted by tax audits, while reporters have said they believed they were being followed.

Authorities, however, have maintained that the city continues to enjoy a large degree of press freedom.

After Lai was sentenced, the government said in a statement that it condemned claims that Lai was the victim of “political prosecution.”

“The… case has nothing to do with freedom of the press at all. Over the years, the defendants were using journalism as a guise to commit acts that brought harm to our country and Hong Kong,” the government said.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has said that a French journalist was denied entry to Hong Kong in November, accusing the city’s authorities of “weaponising visas” against foreign media workers.

Antoine Vedeilhe, who was shooting a documentary for French public broadcaster France Télévisions, was questioned upon arrival at Hong Kong International Airport on November 2 last year, RSF said in a statement on Friday.

He was detained for three hours before being deported without being given a reason, RSF said.

Vedeilhe was the 13th foreign media workers who has been denied entry or a visa by the city’s authorities following Beijing’s imposition of the national security law in 2020, RSF said.

The watchdog said the figure is based on its tally, although it said there is reason to believe many cases have gone unreported due to fear of retaliation.

“On 2 November 2025, [Vedeilhe] was detained for three hours upon arriving at the Hong Kong International Airport… from France, during which he was questioned and subjected to a full-body search before being deported from the territory,” RSF said.

“In the journalist’s view, his detention was a reprisal for his work on a documentary examining Beijing’s grip on Hong Kong.”

Another cameraman for the documentary was able to enter the city, RSF said, but he was followed by “unidentified individuals that he suspects were Hong Kong’s national security police.”

“In the following days, there was a hacking attempt on Vedeilhe’s private email account and his sources in the documentary were harassed by the national security police,” RSF said.

In an emailed reply to HKFP’s enquiries on Friday, the Hong Kong government said it “strongly condemns the smearing remarks and distorted narratives by” RSF.

Hong Kong residents’ human rights and freedoms are protected under China’s constitution and the Basic Law – the city’s mini-constitution – as well as the national security law, the government said.

“As always, the media can exercise their freedom of the press in accordance with the law. Their freedom of commenting on and criticising government policies remains uninhibited as long as this is not in violation of the law,” a government spokesperson said.

The government declined to comment on individual cases. It “accords measures to facilitate the entry of genuine visitors from around the world,” the spokesperson added.

RSF also said France Télévisions received an email from an unknown individual the day after Vedeilhe’s deportation from Hong Kong.

The email warned the French media network that Vedeilhe’s work “comes into conflict” with the national security law and that the outlet’s “editorial choices could be considered ‘incitement to hatred’” – an element of Hong Kong’s sedition offence – according to RSF.

France Télévisions announced the documentary before Vedeilhe’s arrival in Hong Kong, RSF said.

‘Not isolated’

“His case illustrates how closely Hong Kong has aligned itself with China in repressing independent media, and how far the authorities are willing to go in targeting journalists,” RSF’s Asia Pacific advocacy manager, Aleksandra Bielakowska, said in the statement.

Vedeilhe was quoted saying in the statement that he had been travelling to Hong Kong for the past 10 years.

“[I] have always sought to give a voice both to those resisting Beijing’s growing control, and to those within the authorities and civil society who express their attachment to China,” Vedeilhe said.

“My… detention and expulsion are not isolated incidents, and they illustrate how increasingly difficult it has become for journalists to work in Hong Kong,” he added.

Vedeilhe is one of the few to speak openly about being denied entry into Hong Kong.

In August last year, Bloomberg journalist Rebecca Choong Wilkins was denied a work visa renewal by the Immigration Department. At that time, RSF said Wilkins was the 10th journalist whose visa had been denied since the national security law came into force.

Hong Kong has plummeted in international press freedom indices since the onset of the 2020 and 2024 security laws. Watchdogs cite the arrest and jailing of journalists, raids on newsrooms and the closure of around 10 media outlets including Apple Daily, Stand News and Citizen News. Over 1,000 journalists have lost their jobs, whilst many have emigrated. Meanwhile, the city’s government-funded broadcaster RTHK has adopted new editorial guidelines, purged its archives and axed news and satirical shows.

See also: Explainer: Hong Kong’s press freedom under the national security law

In 2022, Chief Executive John Lee said press freedom was “in the pocket” of Hongkongers but “nobody is above the law.” Although he has told the press to “tell a good Hong Kong story,” government departments have been reluctant to respond to story pitches.

Children of non-local talent visa holders may no longer be eligible for discounted local tuition fees at Hong Kong universities starting in 2027, according to new rules announced by the city’s university application body.

The Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS)’s announcement on Thursday formalises a government statement last July, which said authorities had introduced residency requirements to the definition of “local students” applying to tertiary institutions.

Under the new rules, students on dependent visas will only be considered local students – and hence be eligible for cheaper tuition – if they are full-time students in the city, or have resided in Hong Kong for a certain period.

The residency requirement for those applying in 2027 is one year, meaning they must have been in Hong Kong during the period of June 2026 to May 31, with a maximum of 90 days of absence allowed.

For those applying in and after 2028, the requirement will increase to two years.

Students must submit travel records from the Immigration Department when applying as proof of residency. If they are studying in Hong Kong, they must also provide proof.

The move came after concerns that children of the Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) might not live in Hong Kong, but can still benefit from cheaper tuition rates instead of international school fees at public universities.

Undergraduate tuition for local students at the city’s eight public universities is HK$47,000 a year, while for international students, the fees are more than HK$200,000.

Introduced in late 2022, TTPS – which has a lower threshold than other visa programmes – has attracted overwhelmingly mainland Chinese applicants. It has been reported that many TTPS visa holders do not actually move to Hong Kong, using the scheme for purposes such as to make travel more convenient and enjoy tax benefits in the mainland.

Chris Sun, the labour and welfare minister, said in the Legislative Council last September that from 2023 to August 2025, the government issued a total of 220,000 dependent visas under various talent schemes, local media reported.

China’s top official in charge of Hong Kong affairs has warned of some people who “politicised” the deadly Tai Po fire and tried to use the disaster to “stir up chaos” in Hong Kong.

Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, delivered his remarks on Wednesday via a recorded video shown at a National Security Education Day ceremony.

In his speech, Xia mentioned the massive fire that broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a government-subsidised housing estate, on November 26, killing 168 people.

“After the Tai Po fire, some malicious people politicised the tragedy, attempting to use the disaster as a means to disrupt Hong Kong,” Xia said in Mandarin, without giving further details.

“Once again, it reminds us that along Hong Kong’s path toward prosperity under good governance, there will be various risks and challenges.”

He went on to emphasise that there are still national security risks in Hong Kong, six years after the China-imposed national security law came into effect in the city.

“Anti-China and anti–Hong Kong troublemakers are still plotting and biding their time to launch a comeback… Everyone should be alert to the risks of external forces meddling and interfering,” Xia said.

Speaking at the same event on Wednesday, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee also said that some people were “using the disaster to stir up chaos” and “to incite hatred” in Hong Kong.

“Only through the government’s swift action and decisive law enforcement has the situation been able to return to normal,” Lee said in Mandarin.

He vowed that the government “will hold people accountable” and implement “systematic reforms” once the independent committee completes its investigation into the blaze.

The independent committee, chaired by Judge David Lok, is currently hearing testimony from various parties – including residents, employees of fire contractors, a property management firm, and firefighters.

Hong Kong authorities and China’s national security authorities have repeatedly issued warnings related to the blaze – the city’s deadliest in eight decades.

On November 29, days after the blaze, Beijing’s Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS) warned that “anti-China disruptors” sought to co-opt the deadly Tai Po fire to “incite resentment” against the government.

In early December, the Hong Kong government issued a statement, blasting “foreign forces, including anti-China media organisations, and anti-China and destabilising forces” for “making unfounded and slanderous remarks,” and trying to use the fire to “stir up chaos in society.”

More recently, in February, Hong Kong security chief Chris Tang warned of people engaging in “soft resistance” by making false claims about the tragedy.

National security police said in mid-February that three people had been charged under Article 23, Hong Kong’s local national security law, over comments relating to the blaze.

A Hong Kong independent media outlet has said its journalists have been targeted by harassing text messages and “stalked” by unknown individuals, the latest in a series of intimidations against the city’s press since 2024.

InMedia said in a blog post on Friday that its reporters had received harassing text messages “in recent months” and were suspected of being followed after work by unidentified individuals “in recent days.”

“Some unknown individuals were suspected to have trailed our reporters following the public hearings by the Wang Fuk Court [fire] independent committee,” InMedia said in the Chinese-language blog post.

The public hearings into the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire began on March 19, with eight sessions held before the long weekend began on Friday. The hearings resumed on Wednesday.

InMedia said it filed two police reports regarding the suspected stalking and harassment without disclosing further details. The media outlet did not immediately respond to an HKFP request for comment.

2024 harassment against journalists

The incidents are the latest examples of a string of harassment campaigns targeting journalists in the city since September 2024, when at least 13 organisations, including media outlets and press organisations, were subject to various forms of intimidation.

At that time, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), a press union, described the situation as a “systematic and organised attack.” InMedia, the HKJA, and HKFP were among the 13 organisations that faced harassment, which included online doxxing and defamatory letters sent to home addresses, workplaces and family members.

Selina Cheng, the HKJA chairperson, said at that time that it had filed a police report and two journalists had made criminal doxxing complaints to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog.

Police said in October 2024 that they were investigating the HKJA’s harassment reports.

Last month, they told HKFP’s chief editor that no arrests had been made in connection with the 2024 harassment case that affected the company.

Hong Kong has plummeted in international press freedom indices since the onset of the 2020 and 2024 security laws. Watchdogs cite the arrest and jailing of journalists, raids on newsrooms and the closure of around 10 media outlets including Apple Daily, Stand News and Citizen News. Over 1,000 journalists have lost their jobs, whilst many have emigrated. Meanwhile, the city’s government-funded broadcaster RTHK has adopted new editorial guidelines, purged its archives and axed news and satirical shows.

See also: Explainer: Hong Kong’s press freedom under the national security law

In 2022, Chief Executive John Lee said press freedom was “in the pocket” of Hongkongers but “nobody is above the law.” Although he has told the press to “tell a good Hong Kong story,” government departments have been reluctant to respond to story pitches.

Hong Kong introduced new national security rules in March that empower police to demand that national security suspects surrender passwords to their devices. Meanwhile, an independent bookshop owner and his employees were arrested for allegedly selling seditious books.

The national security trial of two Tiananmen vigil activists continued, and the city’s largest teachers’ union officially dissolved.

New national security amendments

The government introduced amendments to the “implementation rules” of the national security law that Beijing imposed in 2020.

Under the new rules, gazetted on March 23, police can require people under national security investigation to provide passwords or help decrypt their electronic devices.

Failure to do so can be punished by up to one year behind bars and a HK$100,000 fine. Providing a false or misleading statement is punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of HK$500,000.

The new rules also empowered customs officers to freeze or confiscate assets relating to national security crimes or to forfeit “articles that have seditious intention.”

Such powers were previously restricted to the secretary for justice, the secretary for security, and the police force.

In an attempt to quell public concerns, security chief Chris Tang described claims that police could stop people on the street and demand their phone passwords as “false and misleading.”

Tang said in the Legislative Council (LegCo) on March 26 that with the new requirements in place, there was public concern that police would randomly demand that citizens on the street hand over mobile phone passwords.

The minister said that police must apply for a court warrant providing “national security reasons” before requesting people suspected of endangering national security to hand over mobile phone passwords.

China summons top US diplomat

Beijing summoned the top US diplomat in Hong Kong after the US Consulate General issued an alert over a new rule in the financial hub empowering police to demand that national security suspects surrender their passwords.

In a statement on February 28, Beijing’s foreign ministry office in Hong Kong said it had summoned Julie Eadeh, the US consul general in Hong Kong, for “solemn representations.”

The statement said the move was in response to the “so-called ‘security alert’” issued by the US Consulate General on February 26, days after the Hong Kong government introduced the new national security rule.

Bookshop owner, staff arrested

In late March, Hong Kong independent bookseller Pong Yat-ming and three of his staff members were reportedly arrested on suspicion of selling seditious titles, including a biography of jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai.

Local media reported on March 24 that national security police arrested one man and three women for allegedly “knowingly selling a publication that has a seditious intention,” an offence under Hong Kong’s homegrown security law, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, known locally as Article 23.

Citing anonymous sources, the reports said police also raided Book Punch – Pong’s Sham Shui Po bookstore – and seized allegedly seditious publications, including Lai’s 2024 biography – The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong’s Greatest Dissident, and China’s Most Feared Critic.

The bookstore owner and the employees were released on bail on March 25, Book Punch said on Facebook. Pong confirmed with HKFP that he and his staff had been released on bail, but he could not say anything about the case.

Trial of Tiananmen vigil activists

The high-profile national security trial of Tiananmen vigil activists – barrister Chow Hang-tung and unionist Lee Cheuk-yan – continued in March.

The former leaders of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China are standing trial for “inciting subversion,” which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail. The third defendant, solicitor Albert Ho, pleaded guilty when the trial opened in January.

The case revolves around the Alliance’s key slogan calling for “an end to one-party rule” in China, which prosecutors allege amounts to a breach of China’s constitution and incitement to subversion.

On March 5, a panel of three national security judges ruled to bar a Taiwanese academic from testifying as the evidence he planned to give was deemed “irrelevant” to the case. Chow had initially applied to have Ho Ming-sho, a sociology professor at National Taiwan University, testify in the trial.

Both defendants had sought early acquittals from their charges, arguing that the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence.

Lee’s barrister, Erik Shum, argued that prosecutors had misinterpreted the Chinese constitution and erred in saying that there are no “lawful means” to call for an end to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) rule. The lawyer also told the court that calling for an end to the CCP’s rule does not mean “overthrowing” its government and state organs.

Chow, who represents herself, said the prosecution had adopted a broad reading of the Chinese constitution and had erred in alleging that she had directly breached it. The Alliance’s slogans fell within a Chinese citizen’s legitimate demand for choosing the country’s leadership, she also told the court.

However, the court ruled on March 13 that the prosecution established a prima facie case against Chow, Lee, and the Alliance, and the trial would go on.

Taking the stand on March 17, Lee denied that his demand for an end to one-party rule in China amounted to a call to overthrow the CCP. “I have no enmity in my heart, only love. Based on my love for the people, I hoped the Communist Party would reform, to let people have the rights and happiness they deserve,” he said the following day. 

Later, on March 20, Chow told the court that the Tiananmen vigils had “always promoted love and responsibility” rather than “hatred and despair.”

She also said writings published by the Alliance were not meant to be subversive, but to expose Hongkongers to democratic movements in mainland China. Her articles were intended to “tell stories” about Chinese activists facing oppression, including the late dissident Liu Xiaobo and his widow Liu Xia, she added.

On March 25, she played a video of the 2018 vigil in the courtroom, as well as a clip of Di Mengqi, a member of the Tiananmen Mothers, recounting the death of her son during the 1989 crackdown. “The most important session of the vigils was the speeches by the Tiananmen Mothers. They are the most directly affected parties and victims of the crackdown,” she said.

The following day, Chow told the court that the Alliance held internal discussions to address “concerns that the national security law would be used as a tool for political suppression,” weeks before its implementation in late June 2020.

Chow called three defence witnesses to testify in court. Former Alliance volunteer Choi Shuk-fong, 66, said she witnessed the Tiananmen crackdown when she was working as a journalist for Sing Tao Daily.

However, the judges barred a photo of injured, bloodied protesters at Tiananmen Square, which was taken by Choi, from being shown in court. “At the moment, I don’t see how this can help the court,” Judge Alex Lee said. Instead, Judge Johnny Chan verbally described the image.

A second defence witness, former vigil attendee Shum Lai-fong, 69, told the court she believed the Alliance’s call for an end to one-party rule was not directed at any specific party.

Kwan Chun-pong, 54, a former standing committee member and volunteer of the Alliance, also testified as a defence witness for Chow. Judge Lee instructed Chow to ask Kwan only questions about matters from 2018 onwards.

At one point, the judge reprimanded Chow when she referred to the crackdown as the “June 4 massacre.” “If you use phrases like this, I will need to consider whether to allow you to continue asking questions,” he said, correcting the term to “June 4 incident.”

Judge Lee adjourned the case to May 18 for the prosecution and the defence to present their closing submissions.

Appeals in Apple Daily case

Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai decided not to appeal against his national security conviction and jail term, his lawyer said on March 6, nearly one month after the sentencing of the Apple Daily founder. The lawyer did not elaborate on the reason for not appealing.

Lai, 78, was sentenced to 20 years behind bars on February 9 – the longest jail term handed down so far under the Beijing-imposed national security law.

Two of his eight co-defendants filed an appeal against their 10-year sentences.

Fung Wai-kong, former editorial writer and editor-in-chief of Apple Daily’s English news section, and Lam Man-chung, former executive editor-in-chief at the tabloid, filed their appeals on March 2 and March 10, respectively, according to local media and High Court documents.

Eight co-defendants – including Fung, Lam and four other former Apple Daily executives – pleaded guilty and were sentenced to up to 10 years in prison alongside Lai.

Dissolution of the city’s largest teachers’ union

The pro-democracy Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union (HKPTU) officially dissolved last month – nearly five years after it announced steps to disband.

The Registry of Trade Unions gazetted on March 27 that the HKPTU – the city’s largest teachers’ union – was dissolved, marking the end of the group’s half-century of history.

Once a prominent force in Hong Kong’s civil society and democratic movement, the 53-year-old union had over 95,000 members before its dissolution, representing 90 per cent of the profession.

The HKPTU announced it would disband in August 2021, days after attacks by Chinese state media and the Education Bureau’s decision to cut ties with the union.

Film competition with nat. security terms

The Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC) revived an Asian film competition in early March after a 17-month hiatus, adding new terms requiring participants to ensure their work complies with the city’s national security legislation.

The HKAC’s Incubator for Film and Visual Media in Asia (ifva) Awards opened for applications on March 1.

According to the awards’ rules and regulations, “entrants must acknowledge and agree [that] the submitted entry… does not violate any provisions of the National Security Law, including these pertaining to secession, subversion, terrorist activities, and collusion with foreign entities.”

Prosecution and arrests figures

As of April 1, a total of 394 people have been arrested for “cases involving suspected acts or activities that endanger national security” since Beijing’s national security law came into effect, according to the Security Bureau. That figure includes those arrested under Article 23 and for other offences.

Of the 208 people and five companies that have so far been charged, 180 people and four companies have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing.

In total, 100 people and four companies have been charged under Beijing’s national security law, with 79 persons and three companies convicted. Thirteen people have been charged under Article 23, 10 of whom have been convicted.

‘Amílcar’ has arrived at the 2026 Hong Kong International Film Festival.

A poetic documentary essay on Amílcar Cabral – agronomist, poet, and revolutionary – who led the anti-colonial struggle in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde.

Told through his own words, the film blends archival material and 16mm imagery to reveal a visionary whose ideas on justice and dignity remain deeply relevant today.

Don’t miss the Asia premiere of Amílcar at Hong Kong International Film Festival

• 📅 Sunday, April 5 — 5:15 PM
  📍 Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre (AC)
  
• 📅 Tuesday, April 7 — 2:30 PM
  📍 Emperor Cinemas Times Square (TS)