Ex-govt official joins RTHK as an ‘adviser’

The appointment was announced in an internal mail to station staff.

Choi joined the government as an administrative officer in 1986 and rose through the ranks before retiring in early 2019.

Also joining the broadcaster is senior administrative officer, Freda Cheung, who is to provide “special support”.

An RTHK spokeswoman said the part-time adviser position is short-term and Choi’s main duty will be to provide advice on the implementation of the government’s review report on RTHK’s editorial management and the mechanism for handling complaints.

The spokeswoman added that the station will also create several other posts to help execute other recommendations in the review report.

Following a six-month investigation by a team of civil servants, RTHK was in February told to address “serious inadequacies” in its editorial processes.

Since bureaucrat Patrick Li took over as director of broadcasting last month he has repeatedly pulled current affairs shows from the schedule at the last minute, purportedly because they were biased.

Last week, pro-Beijing legislator and executive councillor Regina Ip warned that this is giving the public the impression that the government is suppressing press freedom.

She said the administration could avoid arousing such concerns by shutting down RTHK’s television services altogether.