Veteran Sai Kung journalist Steve Vines flees ‘white terror in HK’ for UK

^{Long term Sai Kung resident Steve Vines has fled Hong Kong for UK}

Veteran journalist and former RTHK presenter Steve Vines says he has fled Hong Kong for Britain, to escape the “white terror sweeping through Hong Kong”. Vines has been a resident of Sai Kung for a number of decades living near Pak Tam Chung.

In an email sent to friends and former colleagues, Vines said the decision to leave was prompted by “a cumulative series of alarming events, both personal and political”, adding that it was a decision made with “a heavy heart and a mixture of enormous regret and relief”.

“The personal implications are clear for people who have been public advocates for democracy and liberty and have been engaged in what has become the very high-risk occupation of journalism. The white terror sweeping through Hong Kong is far from over and the near-term prospects of things getting better are simply non-existent,” he said.

The email goes on to say: “The institutions that ensure the liberty of Hongkongers are being dismantled by people who care so little that they don’t even flinch when it becomes abundantly clear that the very essence of the place is being destroyed.”

Two months ago Vines announced he was leaving RTHK, citing the national security law. He had presented the politically themed TV programme The Pulse for many years, but it was axed in June. Vines said at the time that RTHK is now under more pressure to be “an organ of government rather than a public broadcaster”.

Stephen Vines is a journalist, writer and broadcaster and runs companies in the food sector. He was the founding editor of ‘Eastern Express’ and founding publisher of ‘Spike’. In London he was an editor at The Observer and in Asia has worked for international publications including, the Guardian, Daily Telegraph, BBC, Asia Times and The Independent.

Recently Vines was involved with the start-up of Hong Kong Free Press. He is the author of several books, including: ‘Hong Kong: China’s New Colony’, ‘The Years of Living Dangerously – Asia from Crisis to the New Millennium and Market Panic’ and most recently, ‘Food Gurus’. Vines’ latest book, ‘Defying the Dragon – Hong Kong and the world’s largest dictatorship’, has just been published in 2021 by Hurst Publishers, London. He also published ‘Sai Kung For All Seasons’ in 2012.

Vines was a founding member of The Civic Party, one of the political organisations being targeted by the Chinese government crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong. A number of its senior members are in prison or have fled Hong Kong for their safety.

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