The media including Ta Kung Pao, Wen Wei Po and DotDotNews have reported that Herbert Chow Siu-lung, the owner of Chickeeduck, had left Hong Kong in a low profile. Chow did not say a word in front of reporters at the airport that day, but after a few days of silence, he abused Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po through online media, and even threatened to call everyone to "destroy them together".
A number of Legislative Council (LegCo) Members strongly condemned Chow for suppressing freedom of the press when interviewed by DotDotNews. They stressed that the media has the right to pursue the truth, and Chow should not use threatening remarks to incite others to act radically, and that if Bruce Chow will return to Hong Kong, the police should investigate the incident thoroughly.
The reporters from Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao spotted Herbert Chow at the Hong Kong International Airport on the morning of May 26. He intended to take a flight to leave Hong Kong in the afternoon. When the reporters asked Chow why he left Hong Kong in a low profile, whether he was worried that he would be sanctioned by Hong Kong's national security law for his involvement in riot activities, and whether he would return to Hong Kong, he had no response. Only after the incident was revealed by two reporters did Chow reply to media inquiries via SMS, claiming that he left Hong Kong for a "vacation" and to "seek business opportunities" in the United States, Britain and Canada.
However, Chow, who had found a "reasonable explanation" for his departure from Hong Kong, repeatedly abused the two newspapers and threatened to call the public to destroy them together through an interview by an online media outlet.
Edward Leung Hei, a LegCo Member from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), criticized that Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao's report of Chow's departure from Hong Kong on that day was a normal and reasonable act of news coverage, and Chow's call for the "annihilation" of the two newspapers was obviously suppression of press freedom.
The LegCo Member, Scott Leung Man-kwong, denounced Chow's disrespect for press freedom. He questioned Chow's behavior as an attempt to evade and hide, and to vent anger on the media after being exposed, and even to threaten the media, "This is a challenge to the media which report the facts by legal means. He also believed that the police should thoroughly investigate the incendiary comments.
Lawyer Chan Tze-chin pointed out that Chow's remarks incited violence and were obviously anti-China. He emphasized that Hong Kong is a society governed by rule of law, and that the relevant report is based on facts. The calling for punishment of the media due to one's dissatisfaction of speech definitely undermines freedom of speech and of the press in Hong Kong.
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