Citizens' Radio was a radio station in Hong Kong established by pro-democracy camp figure Tsang Kin Shing. The station ran as a non-profit organization. It started trial broadcasting on 3 October 2005 on 102.8 MHz FM. The regular broadcasting hours were 7:00 pm–12:00 pm from Monday to Friday. The station ceased to operate on 30 June 2023, with Tsang saying that the station had had trouble inviting guests in view of "so many red lines" an apparent reference to national security legislation enacted in 2020, and that due to the blocking of a bank account for receiving donations, the station would be unable to pay rent beyond August.[1]
The principle of the station is "Be open and bravely speak out", so the main type of programming is a speech-based "phone-in" format. Sometimes Hong Kong legislators are invited as special guests. The station has also made live broadcasts of the Hong Kong 1 July marches and Vindicate 4 June and Relay Torch in the past.
Tsang has submitted an application for a sound broadcasting licence to the Broadcasting Authority, but the application is still pending. So technically speaking Citizens Radio's broadcasts are illegal. On 29 August 2006 with the court search warrant, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority forced the station to close down. But the station resumed broadcasting on 4 October 2006. The station has been repeatedly raided by the Telecommunications Authority since but it kept on broadcasting as a form of civil disobedience.
On 25 May 2007 Szeto Wah was speaking in a Mong Kok pedestrianised street hosted by Citizen's Radio. The topic of the programme involved the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.[2]
Eight people including Szeto Wah were prosecuted.[3] According to the summons, Szeto was using unlicensed radio equipment when delivering the political message. Only the chief executive or the director general of the Telecommunications Authority have the power to approve licences for such equipment.
Szeto said he was discriminated against for this event, and had appeared on the same station before without being charged. Other members who have spoken on the radio station included Anthony Cheung Bing Leung and legislator Choy So-yuk of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong. They were not charged.[3] Leung Kwok-hung (Longhair) added that this is "selective prosecution". Mak Yin-ting, general secretary of the Hong Kong Journalists Association have said "Everything is subject to government discretion. The government can grant or deny you a licence as long as it wishes. It is not in accordance with the rule of law."[4]
After the prosecution, Hong Kong's Secretary for Justice Wong Yan Lung slumped to a six-month low in public confidence.[5]
The latest case follows an ongoing lawsuit in which Tsang and Leung are arguing that the Telecommunications Ordinance, specifically the granting of broadcasting licences, was unconstitutional.[6]
| width=20% | English name (jyutping or pinyin depending on media coverage) | width=20% | Chinese name | width=30% | Representing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions | |||||
| The Frontier | |||||
| Democratic party | |||||
| Civic Party | |||||
| League of Social Democrats | |||||
| League of Social Democrats | |||||
| Activists, founder of station | |||||
| Lo Hom-chau | Activists | ||||
| Yang Kuang | Activists | ||||
| Ko Wah-bing | Activists | ||||
| Poon Tat-keung | Activists | ||||
The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) mounted an enforcement operation against Citizens' Radio and raided the radio equipment on 19 December 2008.[13] Activist Tsang Kin-shing said the equipment was worth HK$20,000 to HK$30,000.[14]