Hong Kong Authorities Deny Visa to Bloomberg Journalist

Bloomberg stated on Aug. 23 that it was working to resolve the situation of a correspondent in Hong Kong whose visa renewal application was turned down by authorities in the Asian financial hub.

Hong Kong declined to extend the visa of Bloomberg journalist Rebecca Choong Wilkins without explanation, according to a post from the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC), which Wilkins confirmed as accurate to Reuters on Aug. 23.

While Bloomberg said in a statement that it does not comment on individual cases, it stated that it fully supports Wilkins and will “continue to work through the appropriate avenues to try to resolve the matter.”

When asked to comment on Wilkins’s visa situation, a spokesperson for Hong Kong’s Immigration Department said in a statement that it does not comment on individual cases and that applicants have to “meet the eligibility criteria.”

Industry watchdogs said the Chinese communist regime has been eroding press freedoms in Hong Kong since it was returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997. Local journalists have faced detention and harassment, while some foreign reporters have been denied entry or visas, often without reason.

Media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said nine journalists have had visa issues with Hong Kong authorities since the enactment of a Beijing-imposed national security law in 2020, leading to a fall in the city’s ranking in a global press freedom index to 140th out of 180 countries and territories.

After six years of reporting in Hong Kong, and at eight months pregnant, I’m very sad to be leaving my colleagues, friends and the place I’ve called home. https://t.co/zPc8F4aa7b

I’ll be out of office for a while on maternity leave. Wherever I land, catch you on the other side

— Rebecca Choong Wilkins 钟碧琪 (@RChoongWilkins) August 23, 2025

Wilkins, who had worked in Hong Kong for six years, was most recently a reporter on the Asia government and economy team at Bloomberg.

“Regrettably, this decision and the lack of explanation reinforces widespread concerns about the erosion of press freedom in Hong Kong, which is protected under the Basic Law and the Bill of Rights,” the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents Club stated in its post on Aug. 22.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association said the number of denials of visa applications by major foreign media is more than has been publicly reported, according to a post from Selina Cheng, the association’s chairperson.