(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] This is the set of "Headliner,"
Hong Kong's most popular satirical news program.
People say it has a lot in common
with "The Daily Show" in the US.
- People are looking to their leaders
for reassurance and answers.
Unfortunately, we have him.
(audience laughing)
Like "The Daily Show's" Trevor Noah,
the show's host, Tsang Chi-ho pokes fun at politicians.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Correspondents on both shows feature
in sardonic music videos.
(singing in foreign language)
- [Narrator] And both shows
have been intensely covering harsh police tactics
in their respective regions of the world.
But recently, there's been one drastic difference.
- "Daily Show," they will criticize
or they will attack Donald Trump very directly.
If we do it just like "The Daily Show,"
we will get tons of the complaint letter.
- [Narrator] In May, an episode mocking police
for hording personal protective equipment amid the pandemic
got the show suspended.
- Champagne.
- Our program always make trouble.
I don't think we will come back
because the government want our program to disappear.
There is no more "Headliners."
- [Narrator] The show's suspension
is the latest example of how Hong Kong,
under pressure from the Chinese government,
has been chipping away
at the territory's free speech.
And now Beijing has proposed a national security law
as a way to quell anti-government protests
that tore through the city last year.
The passage of the law
could affect not only a cast of comedians
but the future of the global city.
- The freedom of speech in Hong Kong
is not in dangerous but I think it's also that.
Last two episodes.
So I treasure every minute or every second.
- [Narrator] Tsang Chi-ho and his partner,
Ng Chi-sum, often dress up
as a Chinese general and an empress.
- She represent the leadership in Hong Kong.
She always show she's stupid.
(chuckling)
- [Narrator] The show has always taken a sharp look
at the news since its creation in 1989,
covering Chinese pro-democracy activists
during the Tiananmen Square protests,
something TV channels in the mainland didn't dare cover.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] "Headliner's" main appeal since the start
is that it's been a show for the Hong Kong people.
And that was never more true
than when the UK handed over the city to China.
- 1997, that is a very crucial moment
for Hong Kong, our program.
We are not stand with the UK government
or the Chinese government.
We stand with Hong Kong people.
We try to express our worry about our future.
(crowd chanting)
- [Narrator] This past year has been a busy news cycle
with battles between anti-government protestors
and police that rocked the city,
followed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Tsang says the show had to become sharper
than ever before.
(dramatic music)
In the episode that the show suspended,
a policeman jumps out of a garbage can.
The sketch goes on to criticize the Hong Kong police
for having more protective gear
than other front-line agencies
and medical workers fighting the coronavirus.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] After the episode,
the broadcast regulator gave the public television network
that airs "Headliner" a warning
for denigrating and assaulting the police.
Then the government ordered the network
to conduct a full review
of its editorial process and apologize.
Soon after, the network issued an apology
and said it would suspend the show.
- Hong Kong people, we are powerless.
We always think we can't change our political system.
What we can only do is,
we want to try to make fun.
We want to express our feeling.
(nationalist music)
- [Narrator] The show's suspension isn't the only example
of how Hong Kong's free speech is being eroded.
The same month, China announced it would pass
a new national security law in Hong Kong.
Jyh-An is a lawyer and professor
who studies internet censorship in China.
And this is the resolution Beijing approved in May.
- I just say something positive
about Hong Kong independence.
That might be viewed as the violation
of the national security law.
So that is the major home
to freedom of speech in Hong Kong.
- [Narrator] Lee says the proposed legislation
leaves out threats to national security
as separatism from China,
terrorist, aiding foreign interference and subversion.
- It's actually very, very ambiguous.
So it's very possible
that the court might interpret the law widely
to include a lot of behavior
which used to be protected by the freedom of speech.
Now with the law, people don't want
to be put in prison.
- [Narrator] Free speech has long been a pillar
of the one country, two systems model,
based on Beijing's pledge to allow Hong Kong
to keep its own laws while still being a part of China.
But that system has been under threat.
The first signs emerged in 2015
when book sellers critical of Beijing were detained.
The last year, a bill was proposed
that would have allowed people in Hong Kong
to be extradited to China for trial.
This brought protestors out onto the street.
Lee says the proposed national security law
could further jeopardize one country, two systems.
Many multinational corporations,
major news organizations,
as well as think tanks and NGOs
that value free speech
and see Hong Kong as a gateway to China are based here
and Lee says this has helped the city
become a global business hub.
- These "Headliners," they are pretty influential.
So it's possible that they might be held liable
under the law.
- We are a very free society,
so for the time being, people have this freedom
to say whatever they want to say.
- [Narrator] Meanwhile, the leader of Hong Kong says
that the law will actually allow the territory
to remain a free society
and that national security is a top priority,
given how what she calls rights
have ruled the city.
(shouting in foreign language)
With the show suspended,
Tsang decided to trade in his costume
for a helmet, a gas mask and a press card.
- They're demanding Hong Kong independent.
The government just push them,
push them this way.
- [Narrator] He's trying a new venture,
documenting Hong Kong's issues as a YouTube vlogger.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] For Tsang, creating a new show from scratch
isn't the same as having the financial backing
of a big network.
Even so, he says,
he will continue in the spirit of "Headliner,"
using his shows to make the voice of Hong Kongers heard
and that will test the government's promise
that Hong Kong will remain a free society.
- History tell us that in China,
everything, everything, if the government,
they don't like you to say,
they don't like you to do,
they can can you out against national security law.