EDITORIAL - First the news, then the movies

Hong Kong marks another ignominious milestone in its slide from a favored international economic hub to a territory under authoritarian rule.

Censors are now allowed to demand cuts in films produced or screened there, and they are doing it in what some call “mainland China-style” censorship; no negative portrayal of the authorities, no positive portrayal of dissenters or critics.

In particular, censors seem to be zeroing in on films either critical of the Beijing government or those that feature people protesting for democratic reforms in Hong Kong.

One director with a film about a romance that took place during the pro-democracy protests was required to cut 14 scenes, most of which portrayed the protesters in a good light.

The director was also made to change its title and have a disclaimer that it showed “criminal offenses”, which is a term censors like to use for pro-democracy protests.

Because the cuts made her film practically unrecognizable, the director said she is putting off screening it for now.

We have seen this before with authoritarian regimes like the Third Reich. First they started with the press, then they moved on to the arts like cinema, which is a form of expression.

It is practically a form of thought control; dictate what they see and hear first as news, then what they see and hear as entertainment or art. From there it will be easy to get the masses eating out of their hands and believing everything they say.

As we said before, if the people of Hong Kong do nothing about these creeping encroachments into their freedoms it won’t be long now before they will become just another extension of mainland China. They will become no different from any Chinese city or province that is subject to the whims of the communist party and run by those who lick its boots.

If that happens they can just say goodbye to everything that has made Hong Kong Hong Kong throughout the decades.