Hong Kong police urge reporters to respect each other's freedom of news coverage

Photo taken on Aug. 21, 2019 shows the scene of a press conference held by Hong Kong police in south China's Hong Kong. Hong Kong police on Wednesday called on all journalists to respect each other's freedom of news coverage after a female reporter from the mainland was surrounded by her Hong Kong peers questioning her identity after a press conference on Tuesday. The police have existing measures to effectively verify reporters' identity, consistent with that of other press conferences of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, Tse Chun-chung, chief superintendent of police public relations branch, said at the regular press conference. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)

HONG KONG, Aug. 21 -- Hong Kong police on Wednesday called on all journalists to respect each other's freedom of news coverage after a female reporter from the mainland was surrounded by her Hong Kong peers questioning her identity after a press conference on Tuesday.

The police have existing measures to effectively verify reporters' identity, consistent with that of other press conferences of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, Tse Chun-chung, chief superintendent of police public relations branch, said at the regular press conference.

Every reporter has gone through the verification procedures before entering the press room, Tse said.

Chen Xiaoqian, a correspondent of Guangdong Radio and Television, was besieged by a number of Hong Kong journalists, who asked for her identity documents and tried to examine her mobile phone after the press conference of the police on Tuesday.

The Guangdong journalists association and Guangdong Radio and Television Station on Tuesday strongly condemned the incident and called on Hong Kong authorities to protect the rights of journalists.