A Hong Kong court has convicted the Wall Street Journal’s publisher of attempting to prevent a former reporter from taking up leadership of an embattled press union, but cleared it of unlawfully firing her.
Selina Cheng, the chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, arrives at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on September 10, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.Principal Magistrate David Cheung delivered his ruling to Selina Cheng, a former reporter for the WSJ and chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday.
Cheng initiated the private prosecution against Dow Jones Publishing, the parent company of her former employer, alleging that she had been unlawfully dismissed in July 2024, after she was elected chair of the press union.
Representing Cheng, Senior Counsel Nigel Kat said in his closing statements in July that an employee enjoys “far-reaching protection” under the city’s Employment Ordinance, which prohibits employers from preventing, deterring, or firing a worker over union participation.
The HKJA has seen increasing pressure from authorities in recent years, facing tax audits alongside several local independent media outlets and their employees, and being discredited in comments by the city’s security chief.
Wall Street Journal Corporate Headquarters in New York. File photo: John Wisniewski, via Flickr CC2.0.In a July 2024 press conference held the day she was fired, Cheng said the paper had told her that WSJ employees should not be seen as advocating press freedom “in a place like Hong Kong.”
‘Directing mind and will’
In their closing submissions, lawyers for the two parties also argued over whether Cheng’s then-supervisor and a human resources director represented the company when they cited her leadership bid in conversations about her dismissal.
Senior Counsel Benson Tsoi, representing Dow Jones, argued that the prosecution had not proven that the two individuals were indeed instructed by the “directing mind and will” of the company in their communications with Cheng.
Cheng, who covered the Chinese electric vehicle industry, was fired in July 2024 on the grounds of redundancy, as the WSJ relocated its centre of reporting in Asia from Hong Kong to Singapore.
Selina Cheng, chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, speaks to reporters after being fired from The Wall Street Journal, allegedly over her role in the press union, on July 17, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. But Deborah Ball, the journal’s Asia editor and Cheng’s supervisor at the time, told Cheng that her intention to stand for office at the HKJA was “not compatible” with her employment, the court heard.
Kerene Ko, a human resources director at Dow Jones at the time, later informed Cheng by email that she “did not seek, and will not receive the company’s approval” to pursue the role of HKJA chairperson.
Cheng accused Dow Jones of one count of “doing an act calculated to prevent or deter” her from becoming an HKJA officer, and a second charge of terminating her employment over her union participation, under the city’s Employment Ordinance.
Under the ordinance, an employer could be fined up to HK$100,000 for each of the offences if found guilty.
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