Hong Kong court convicts Wall Street Journal publisher for blocking reporter from union role, tell me about this news in (https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/10/china/wsj-hong-kong-union-hnk-intl)

On September 10, 2026, a Hong Kong court convicted Dow Jones Publishing, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, of illegally deterring a former reporter from participating in a trade union role. The GuardianKey Details of the Case:

• The Background: In July 2024, reporter Selina Cheng was dismissed by The Wall Street Journal, just weeks after she was elected chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), the city’s primary press union. Cheng initiated a private prosecution against Dow Jones under Hong Kong’s Employment and Trade Unions legislation. The Guardian+ 1
• The Allegations: Cheng stated that prior to her dismissal, her supervisor pressured her to withdraw from the HKJA election and resign from its executive committee. She testified that an editor told her that employees at the publication should not be seen publicly advocating for press freedom in a place like Hong Kong, citing a potential conflict of interest. The Guardian+ 1
• The Ruling: Principal Magistrate David Cheung found Dow Jones guilty of one criminal charge: wilfully preventing or deterring an employee from exercising trade union rights. The magistrate noted that the company’s insistence on prior approval for union activities was an unjustified application of its code of conduct. The Guardian+ 1
• The Acquittal on the Second Count: Dow Jones was cleared of a second charge regarding whether it unlawfully fired or discriminated against Cheng specifically for exercising union rights, as the threshold for proving the direct cause of the dismissal under that specific offense was not met beyond reasonable doubt. The Guardian
• The Publisher’s Defense: Dow Jones maintained that Cheng’s dismissal was part of an operational restructuring and denied that it was linked to her union position, asserting its ongoing support for press freedom globally. The Guardian
• Penalty: The conviction carries a maximum fine of HK100,000(approximatelyUS12,750), with formal sentencing scheduled for a later date. The Guardian