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''Wen Wei Po'' is a
pro-Beijing The pro-Beijing camp, pro-establishment camp or pro-China camp is a political alignment in Hong Kong which generally supports the policies of the Beijing central government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) towards Hong Kong. The term " ...
state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...
newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
based in Hong Kong. The newspaper was established in Hong Kong on 9 September 1948, 10 years after the launch of its Shanghai counterpart in 1938. Its head office is located at the Hing Wai Centre () in
Aberdeen, Hong Kong Aberdeen ( ; Chinese: 香港仔; ) is an area on southwest Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Southern District. While the name "Aberdeen" could be taken in a broad sense to encompass the areas of Aberdeen (tow ...
. The paper is owned by Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group, which is controlled by the liaison office of the Chinese government in Hong Kong. ''Wen Wei Po'' is subsidised by and advocates for the Chinese government. ''Wen Wei Po'' accounts for less than 1 percent of Hong Kong's readership, and is mainly read by an audience in
mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...
and older Hong Kong readers. In a 2019 public opinion survey conducted by the
Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...
, ''Wen Wei Po'' was rated by respondents as the second least credible paid newspaper in Hong Kong.


History

''Wen Wei Po'' was founded in Shanghai in January 1938. The Hong Kong edition was first published on 6 September 1948. In the 1980s,
Xinhua News Agency Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: ),J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. It is a ...
, which served as the ''de facto'' Chinese embassy to Hong Kong, reduced its control over ''Wen Wei Po'' to reflect China's guarantee of "
one country, two systems "One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Deng Xiaoping developed the one country, two systems ...
" after sovereignty over Hong Kong is transferred to China in 1997. In 1989, ''Wen Wei Po'' published an editorial criticizing the
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...
for their crackdown of protesters in Tiananmen Square. The paper reported what it claimed was a firsthand account from a 20-year-old
Qinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. I ...
student, whose identity was kept confidential. This account alleged that soldiers first set up over ten machine guns in front of the Heroes Monument and mass fired into the crowd of students inside Tiananmen square, and mowing them down.
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
gave this supposed eyewitness account prominent display on 12 June, a week after the events. However, no evidence has ever confirmed the account or the existence of the supposed witness. According to
Jay Mathews Jay Mathews is an author and education columnist with the ''Washington Post''. Career Mathews has worked at the ''Washington Post'' writing news reports and books about China, disability rights, the stock market, and education. He writes the ''Cl ...
writing in the
Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its original purpose was "to assess the performance ...
, the story was not factual—all verified eyewitness accounts say that all students remaining in the square were allowed to leave peacefully—and that instead hundreds of workers and Beijing residents did die that night but "in a different place and different circumstances", which had included soldiers shooting many on the stretches of Changan Jie, about a mile west of the square, and in scattered confrontations throughout the city, where some soldiers were beaten or burned to death by angry workers. Lee Tze Chung, the president of the newspaper since 1951, was dismissed, and editor-in-chief Kam Yiu-yu went into exile in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Following the dismissals, ''Wen Wei Po'' received financial support from the Chinese government to repair the image of China following the military crackdown in Beijing. In 2016, ''Wen Wei Po'' merged with ''
Ta Kung Pao ''Ta Kung Pao'' (; formerly ''L'Impartial'' in Latin-based languages) is a Hong Kong-based, state-owned Chinese-language newspaper. Founded in Tianjin in 1902, the paper is controlled by the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government i ...
'' to form the Hong Kong Dagong Wenhui Media Group, which is under the control of the
Hong Kong Liaison Office The Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the representative office of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China in Hong Kong. It is located in Sai Wan, Hong ...
.


Content


Editorial position

''Wen Wei Po'' has been described as pro-China and leftist. According to ''The Challenge of Hong Kong's Reintegration With China'', a book written by Ming K. Chan, Wen Wei Po is a "mouthpiece" of the Chinese government.


Space and military news

''Wen Wei Po'' is known to periodically leak first hand information about the PRC's
space program A space program is an organized effort by a government or a company with a goal related to outer space. Lists of space programs include: * List of government space agencies * List of private spaceflight companies * List of human spaceflight prog ...
and military buildup. Examples of this occurring include the advanced launch date of the
Shenzhou 7 Shenzhou 7 () was the third human spaceflight mission of the Chinese space program. The mission, which included the first Chinese extra-vehicular activity (EVA) carried out by crew members Zhai Zhigang and Liu Boming, marked the commencement o ...
mission.


See also

*
Media of Hong Kong Hong Kong's media consists of several different types of communications of mass media: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, websites and other online platforms. Overview Hong Kong is home to many of Asia's biggest media entities ...
* ''
Ta Kung Pao ''Ta Kung Pao'' (; formerly ''L'Impartial'' in Latin-based languages) is a Hong Kong-based, state-owned Chinese-language newspaper. Founded in Tianjin in 1902, the paper is controlled by the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government i ...
'' *
Wenhui-Xinmin United Press Group The Shanghai United Media Group (SUMG) is a state media company of the People's Republic of China overseen by the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The headquarter of the Group is located at 755 Weihai Road in S ...
** '' Shanghai Xinmin Evening News''


References


External links

* {{Authority control Chinese-language newspapers published in Hong Kong Chinese propaganda organisations 1948 establishments in Hong Kong Propaganda newspapers and magazines Newspapers established in 1948 State media