One of the words that young celebrities use on TV these days is "the best in my history.
Yesterday was a freezing day, and I checked the live camera at Kinkakuji Temple.
It had been a long time since I had been to Kyoto with my friend, an accomplished reader.
Everything was fine, except for a slight stomach ache that I felt in response to the cold after filming the Kinkakuji.
After having a perfect lunch to recover from the above stomachache, I suddenly felt the urge to go to Ginkakuji Temple.
Just then, a bus bound for Ginkakuji was coming.
We ran to the bus.
I must be one of the world's leading photographers regarding the number of times I have photographed the Golden and Silver Pavilions.
When I was taking pictures of the Ginkakuji Temple, I had a kind of epiphany: "This is the best picture I have ever taken.
I came home early, and the picture of Kinkakuji first appeared on my computer.
I shouted, "Oh! It's no exaggeration to say that it was the best picture I've ever taken.
And then this morning.
Readers of this column who subscribe to the Sankei Shimbun must have read the front-page article titled "Media Infiltrated by Spies" with the same conviction that China is doing the same to most of Japan's major media outlets as I did.
It is indisputable that China is doing the same to major media outlets worldwide.
In particular, the readers of this column must have been as astonished as I was when they came to the title.
The Sankei Shimbun and this column are in league with each other.
The Sankei Shimbun and this column correspond.
It is a must-read for the Japanese people and people worldwide.
Media Infiltrated by Spies
The night of June 23 last year when the stronghold of "press freedom" in Hong Kong was about to fall.
Hundreds of citizens gathered in front of the headquarters building of the Apple Daily, a major newspaper, where the last pages of the paper were being edited.
Zheng Qiang (pseudonym, in his 30s), who was born in mainland China, was one of them.
He could not stop crying.
The Apple Daily building, which to him was a symbol of "freedom," looked as if it was engulfed in flames.
Zheng had also worked for the Apple Daily before and was a talented reporter pressured by the Chinese authorities to become a spy.
After failing the entrance exam for a university in mainland China, Zheng went to Hong Kong to study, and after graduating, he jumped straight into the world of news reporting.
After working at a TV station, he joined Apple Daily, where he was invited by an official from the Ministry of State Security, the intelligence agency of the Chinese government, to have tea with him.
I'd like you to tell me something," he said. "Tell us the names, phone numbers, hobbies, and favorite foods and drinks of the Apple Daily reporters."
They want me to be a spy.
The person in charge knew all of Zheng's interactions with his family in mainland China on social networking sites (SNS).
It was a silent pressure that he could not escape. Zheng was troubled.
If he became a spy, the surveillance would continue, and the demands would escalate. If he refused, he might not be able to return to his parents.
Zheng's conclusion was to leave Apple Daily, a painful decision. Since then, he has been working as a freelance reporter.
Chen Lung-sheng, 40, president of the Hong Kong Press Association, pointed out, "It is the Zhonglianben that effectively controls the newspaper industry in Hong Kong.
Zhonglianben is the abbreviation for the Hong Kong Liaison Office, the representative office of the Chinese government in Hong Kong.
There is a nest of pro-sympathizers within each newspaper under the Chinese government's control.
They are the hands and feet of the Chinese Communist Party and put the brakes on articles that criticize China.
It is the CCP's modus operandi to manipulate the situation according to the wishes of the Chinese authorities with the help of many faceless agents. It was also seen in last month's legislative elections.
According to Chen, China still could not control the Apple Daily and the online media.
Chen himself was a prominent reporter for the pro-democracy online media outlet StandNews.
In the early morning of the 29th of last month, Chen's house was raided by the police. It was a forced raid on StandNews.
Even though he had expected it, Chen could not stop shaking during the raid.
On the same day, all the newspaper executives were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to publish an inflammatory publication, and the newspaper was forced to suspend operations.
Chen was taken away but escaped arrest, but lost an important job.
Chen Wangming, 40, who wrote the signature article for the last edition of the Standpoint News, gave a message of encouragement to the journalists of the Standpoint News who had lost their jobs.
Chen Wangming is also no longer working for StandNews, but he continues to send out messages through social networking sites.
Zheng has been living in Hong Kong for more than ten years.
He is familiar with Japanese culture and describes Hong Kong after implementing the National Security Law.
"Hong Kong people had their 'Golden Temple' burned down. The most beautiful thing in Hong Kong, freedom, was burned by Beijing. I can understand their grief."
He is now preparing to report on the struggle of journalists under the State Security Law and is unlikely to return to mainland China.
For Chen Wangming, Zheng, and other freelance reporters, the Hong Kong Press Association, led by Chen Lingsheng, is a source of support.
The association is the only group in Hong Kong that vociferously demands freedom of the press and media.
The pressure from the authorities is getting stronger by the day.
It is also approaching the foreign media.
When the U.S. newspaper The Wall Street Journal editorialized late last month that "no one is safe in Hong Kong (where Chinese influence permeates the city),"
Li Ka Chao, Hong Kong's number two political official, protested vigorously, saying, "This is a distortion of the facts.
Some senior officials are ready to take legal action against the foreign media.
Chen Lung-sheng raises the alarm.
We don't know what effect this will have on the foreign media.
We need to take firm action.
＝(titles omitted) (Kinya Fujimoto, Hong Kong)
