Hong Kong Court Convicts Wall Street Journal Over Union Role Blockade

Hong Kong court convicts WSJ over union role blocking. Reporter fired for union leadership amid press freedom crackdown.

Editorial Desk

September 10, 2026 One Min Read

POLICY WIRE — Hong Kong, China — A Hong Kong court found Dow Jones, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, guilty of attempting to block a former reporter from taking on a leadership role in a press union, but cleared it of unlawfully terminating her employment.

Journalist Selina Cheng was dismissed by the Wall Street Journal in July 2024 after she refused to cut ties with the Hong Kong Journalists Association and stop advocating for press freedom. The court ruled that the company had violated the Trade Unions Ordinance by preventing her from running for the association’s chairperson.

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The magistrate noted that the company required her to seek approval before running for the position, which would have been denied, and warned that she would lose her job if she accepted the role. Cheng stated that the case highlighted the suppression of unions in Hong Kong and emphasized that employers should not interfere with employees’ right to join or lead unions.

Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)

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