July 10, 2017
Joshua Wong, a democracy activist, in Hong Kong last year. The Asia Society attributed the decision to bar Mr. Wong from speaking to a staff error.
Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times
HONG KONG — A week after a leading democracy activist in Hong Kongwas barred from speaking at a literary event at the local chapter of the Asia Society, embroiling the group in accusations of censorship, the organization sought to tamp down the controversy on Friday.
The event, to feature Joshua Wong, a leader of the 2014 pro-democracy demonstrations, was planned for the release of “Hong Kong 20/20: Reflections on a Borrowed Place,” a collection of work from writers discussing the 20th anniversary of the former British colony’s return to Chinese control. Jason Y. Ng, president of PEN Hong Kong, the literature and free speech group behind the anthology, said the organization decided to change venues because of the ban.
“We couldn’t let that happen because it goes against what we stand for,” Mr. Ng said. “It’s really hard for me to explain to Joshua or any other contributor that you can contribute, you can write, but you can’t read at the launch.”
The Asia Society, based in New York, issued a statement on Friday that said it took the issue “very seriously,” while blaming “an error in judgment at the staff level” for the decision.
The attempt to prevent Mr. Wong from participating in the event has highlighted concerns about free speech in Hong Kong, a semiautonomous Chinese territory that was promised it could maintain its own political, economic and legal systems after the 1997 handover from Britain. The episode has also renewed questions about the influence that China, and people with deep business interests in China, hold over universities, nongovernmental organizations and other groups that rely on wealthy donors.
“I have watched with alarm over the past decade the increasing force field that has been projected by China on think tanks, universities, civil society organizations and cultural groups,” said Orville Schell, director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society. “The reality is that if you want to work with China, you have to be discreet. I would say it’s a worrisome trend.”
Mr. Wong was a leader of the 2014 Umbrella Movement, which takes its name from the umbrellas protesters used to defend themselves from police pepper spray during a monthslong occupation of major roadways in Hong Kong. The demonstrators were calling for a more direct say in the election of Hong Kong’s chief executive, the top political office. China’s central government had proposed direct elections, but only of candidates who had been vetted by a largely pro-Beijing nominating committee, a limitation that the protesters and pro-democracy lawmakers rejected.
The book event last month was moved to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club. Mr. Wong ended up not attending, as he was participating in a protest where he was arrested.
In the fall, the Hong Kong Center of the Asia Society canceled a screening of a documentary on the Umbrella Movement because of concerns that a panel on the film would have only included pro-democracy viewpoints.
Representative Chris Smith, a Republican of New Jersey and co-chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said this week that the Asia Society had “some explaining to do” over the cancellations and that he would seek to understand whether the decisions were made “because of self-censorship or under direct threats from Beijing.”
“It is sad to see this venerable organization kowtowing to Beijing’s ‘red lines’ in Hong Kong and abandoning its core mission to educate and build bridges,” Mr. Smith added, according to a written statement.
The Asia Society said in its statement that the group, “throughout its history, has hosted events at all of its global locations with speakers representing all sides of major Asia-related issues.”
S. Alice Mong, the executive director of the Asia Society Hong Kong Center, said in a message to members that the organization had “received no representations from the Chinese government on this matter.”
The Hong Kong chapter declined to comment further. Mr. Wong wrote on Twitter that he was “disappointed to learn that the leadership of @AsiaSociety had not taken any measures to remedy the erosion to the freedom of the press.”
Ronnie Chan, a billionaire property developer and philanthropist in Hong Kong, is co-chairman of the Asia Society and chairman of the Asia Society’s Hong Kong Center. He was also an outspoken supporter of Leung Chun-ying, the former chief executive who was a target of the 2014 protests. Mr. Chan did not respond to a request for comment made Friday through his company, Hang Lung Properties.
The Asia Society noted that Mr. Wong spoke at an event at its New York headquarters in May. The discussion was invitation-only and off the record, a decision that was made in part because the opportunity to host came too late for a large, public event, Susan Jakes, editor of the Asia Society’s publication ChinaFile, wrote on Twitter.
