HONG KONG – A journalist who works for Bloomberg News in Hong Kong said on Aug 23 that she has to leave the city after a foreign journalists’ club revealed that authorities had denied renewal of her working visa.
Ms Rebecca Choong Wilkins, Bloomberg’s Asia government and economy correspondent, said on social media that “after six years of reporting in Hong Kong, and at eight months pregnant, I’m very sad to be leaving my colleagues, friends and the place I’ve called home.”
“I’ll be out of office for a while on maternity leave. Wherever I land, catch you on the other side,” she added.
“We cannot comment on the specifics of her situation but we fully support Rebecca and we will continue to work through the appropriate avenues to try to resolve the matter,” a Bloomberg News spokesperson said.
Hong Kong’s Immigration Department declined to comment on the “individual case” when reached by AFP, adding that it “acts in accordance with the laws and policies in handling each immigration case”.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club Hong Kong said on Aug 22 it was “deeply concerned” over the incident and it understood that authorities did not give any reason for the denial.
The decision and the lack of explanation reinforce widespread concerns about the erosion of press freedom in Hong Kong, it said.
Last year, another Bloomberg reporter Haze Fan, who is a Chinese national, was refused a visa to work in Hong Kong, media reports said.
Authorities also denied Associated Press photojournalist Louise Delmotte’s visa extension application without any stated reason in 2024.
“We call on the Hong Kong authorities to explain any denial of work visas and entry into Hong Kong amid a growing number of such incidents, and establish a transparent mechanism in its decision-making processes,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement to AFP on Aug 23. AFP
