Pro-Beijing newspaper accused of running illegal election ad for candidate Chan Hoi-yan on morning of by-election
- Ta Kung Pao featured front-page coverage urging voters to choose pro-establishment candidate, which could be against the law
- Political analysts say paper crossed the line by publishing notice that was not clearly marked as an advertisement
Authorities have been urged to take action against a free newspaper over its front page coverage of the Legislative Council by-election on Sunday, as academics raised concerns that it was tantamount to an advertisement for the key pro-government camp’s candidate.
The news report in question was published by the free pro-Beijing daily Ta Kung Pao on Sunday, when five candidate vied for one of the six Legislative Council seats vacated by pro-democracy lawmakers, who were disqualified for not taking their oaths properly.
The full-page coverage featured the pro-establishment camp’s candidate Chan Hoi-yan’s campaign under the headline: “Prosperity relies on your vote” with a graphic listing out Chan’s manifesto and a tick next to each bullet point, and a big number 5, referring to Chan’s candidate number.
Chan won the Kowloon West constituency seat with 106,457 votes, 13,410 more than veteran pro-democracy unionist Lee Cheuk-yan.
