Hong Kong: Film Censorship New Law

[FWN Adm]

Hong Kong's legislature has passed a new law banning films deemed to violate China's national security interests, limiting freedom of expression in the territory. Punishment for violating the law includes up to three years imprisonment and $130,000 (USD) in fines.

Critics say the legislation will stifle the vibrant local film industry. Last year, China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong that effectively outlawed dissent. The legislation, which came after huge pro-democracy protests in 2019, criminalises secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. Critics say it is aimed at crushing dissent but China says it is meant to maintain stability. The film censorship law was approved in the opposition-free Legislative Council. It gives the chief secretary - the second-most powerful figure in the city's administration - the power to revoke a film's licence if it is found to "endorse, support, glorify, encourage and incite activities that might endanger national security".

Why is Hong Kong worried? Hong Kong's year under controversial law experts and content producers have raised worries about the impact of the legislation, which does not cover films posted online, on creativity and freedom of expression.

The bill was passed by a simple showing of hands, at the last meeting of the council's much extended current term. And despite the lack of opposition in the legislature, lawmakers still debate. Councillor Luk Chung-hung claimed it was political films that hindered creativity, not the proposed censorship law. Another councillor, Priscilla Leung, who is also a law professor, insisted the bill was in full compliance with human rights laws, and she hoped to stop such films from "brainwashing" young people.

Filmmakers will certainly be concerned. Dr Kenny Ng of the Hong Kong Baptist University's Film Academy said the new law would see film distributors worrying if their already-approved films would be withdrawn, meaning more uncertainty in the industry. Book publishers have admitted to self-censoring and the largest pro-democracy paper, Apple Daily, closed earlier this year amid a national security investigation. Meanwhile, many opposition figures are already in prison or in exile.

Hong Kong has created a world wide fan base with millions of fans who are now upset and fear that their favorite style of films will never be the same. The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese-language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former British colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of political and economic freedom than mainland China and Taiwan, and developed into a filmmaking hub for the Chinese-speaking world (including its worldwide diaspora).

For decades, Hong Kong was the third largest motion picture industry in the world following US cinema and Indian cinema, and the second largest exporter. Despite an industry crisis starting in the mid-1990s and Hong Kong's transfer to Chinese sovereignty in July 1997, Hong Kong film has retained much of its distinctive identity and continued to play a prominent part on the world cinema stage. In the West, Hong Kong's vigorous pop cinema (especially Hong Kong action cinema) had a long and strong cult following, which was part of the cultural mainstream, widely available and imitated.