CNBC will still be covering Hong Kong “as part of our Asia reporting,” says a spokesman for the broadcaster. “International editorial coverage will continue to be led from London, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Beijing.”
Why leave Hong Kong if CNBC is still able to report from Beijing?
Hong Kong Free Press notes that “Hong Kong has plummeted in international press freedom indices since the onset of the 2020 and 2024 security laws.” Newsrooms have been raided, publications shuttered, and over a thousand journalists have lost their jobs. “Meanwhile, the city’s government-funded broadcaster RTHK has adopted new editorial guidelines, purged its archives and axed news and satirical shows” (September 4, 2026).
This is not a worse situation than that of mainland China.
But perhaps the point is that the advantages of the freedom of the press that Hong Kong once offered having now been stripped away, foreign media no longer see a reason to stick around. The big reason it was good to be here is gone.
Although Hong Kong has long been seen “as a regional media hub, several international news operations have scaled back their operations in Hong Kong or left the city entirely in recent years….
“In 2024, The Wall Street Journal relocated its Asia headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore, while US-backed Radio Free Asia shuttered in Hong Kong, citing the implementation of the security law. In 2020, The New York Times shifted a third of its Hong Kong staff to South Korea, also citing security law concerns. Meanwhile, Bloomberg, the Financial Times and the Associated Press are among the foreign outlets that have seen staff face visa difficulties.”
Hong Kong’s boss, Chief Executive John Lee, has the answer. All journalists have to do is “deliver Hong Kong’s latest developments and correct message.”
