Hong Kong’s exiled journalists seek to fill the gap created by the press crackdown at home.

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I'm Chris Casquejo in Washington.

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Following monsoons that triggered flooding and landslides in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli wants an emergency meeting. More than 200 people have died in the record-breaking rains. Rescuers are still searching for the missing. The weather began to improve on Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Kolkata, one of India's largest cities, after doctors resumed a strike in response to the rape and murder of a colleague. Doctors said the state government had failed to fulfill its promises to improve lighting, install CCTV cameras, and enhance other security measures in hospitals.

Thai police are investigating a school bus fire that killed 25 students and teachers in a suburban area of Bangkok. Authorities are examining whether negligence by the driver or the bus company contributed to the fire. Authorities have arrested the driver, but police have not identified the cause.

South Korea celebrated its 76th Armed Forces Day on the streets of Seoul, showcasing its military readiness to respond to North Korean threats. The event featured more than 5,000 troops and 340 types of military equipment, including a flyover by a U.S. B-1B strategic bomber. During the parade, President Yoon Suk Yeol warned Pyongyang against the use of nuclear weapons.

“If North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will face a resolute, overwhelming response from our military and the U.S. alliance.”

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol spoke Wednesday with Japan’s new Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba. Both leaders agreed that a united response, alongside support from the United States, is essential to counter North Korea’s threats. Prime Minister Ishiba pledged to strengthen ties with allied nations to address what he calls the biggest security challenges since World War II.

The closure of media outlets and jailing of journalists has become a reality in Hong Kong as the government there cracks down on the press in the name of national security. Some Hong Kong journalists exiled to other countries are trying to push back against the threats to press freedom from overseas. VOA’s William Yang reports from Taipei.

Hong Kong journalist Shirley Leung remembers the day when the Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily was forced to shut down in 2021.

“For me and some of my colleagues will be [was] very traumatic.”

Leung was a features reporter at Apple Daily. Following the paper’s closure, she worked briefly as an independent journalist in Hong Kong. Then in 2023, she moved to Taiwan to start a new media outlet called Photon Media, which provides uncensored news from Hong Kong.

“I can see it is very important for Hong Kong people or readers to know what’s happening outside Hong Kong.”

In 2019, Hong Kong’s residents took to the streets. They protested proposed changes in policy that would allow people in Hong Kong to be extradited to China. The Hong Kong government introduced the National Security Law the following year to quash dissent.

Pro-democracy media outlets including Apple Daily, and its founder Jimmy Lai, became targets of the government’s crackdown.

Despite the increased pressure on the journalism community, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said in April that the media can “ask questions” but should avoid “provoking conflicts.”

“For me, it’s about the death of, it’s not the fall but the death I guess of press freedom.”

More than 9,000 kilometers away in England, Benson Wong is also trying to keep Hong Kong press freedom alive. An academic and columnist, Wong has been writing about sensitive topics for a U.K.-based diaspora media called The Chaser since 2022.

“My articles in some ways, in some aspect, can say what they want for them.”

Both Wong and Leung say staying financially sustainable is a big challenge for diaspora media as they struggle to maintain a space for alternative voices.

Facing financial challenges for her own news outlet, Leung says she’ll do her best to keep writing about Hong Kong news – from the outside.

William Yang, VOA News, Taipei.

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I’m Chris Casquejo.

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