China warns foreign media in Hong Kong over fire coverage

China’s national security office in Hong Kong on Saturday cautioned foreign media against spreading “false information” or attempting to “smear” government efforts in responding to the city’s deadliest fire in nearly 80 years.

Ahead of Sunday’s Legislative Council election in the financial hub, the Office for Safeguarding National Security said it had summoned several foreign news outlets, criticising their coverage of the blaze at the Wang Fuk Court high-rise, which claimed at least 159 lives. Reuters was not contacted for the meeting and did not attend.

The office accused some foreign media of “ignoring the facts, spreading false information, distorting and smearing the government’s disaster relief efforts, interfering in the Legislative Council election, and provoking social divisions.” The gathering was held under Hong Kong’s national security law, imposed by Beijing in 2020 following large-scale pro-democracy protests, which allows authorities to “take necessary measures” to oversee foreign entities, including media organisations.

This appears to be the first time the office has collectively summoned foreign media to face criticism over reporting on a specific incident. Since the 2019 protests, Hong Kong and Beijing authorities have cracked down on dissent, arresting opposition figures and closing liberal media outlets and civil society groups.

The meeting comes amid growing public anger over the fire, with poor oversight and substandard renovation materials cited as contributing factors. Authorities have also detained activists advocating for government accountability and warned against using the disaster to “disrupt Hong Kong.”

Hong Kong currently ranks 140th out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders. Separately, media tycoon Jimmy Lai, a 77-year-old prominent critic of Beijing, faces the possibility of a life sentence under a national security trial, with U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly pressing Chinese President Xi Jinping for his release last month.

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