Beijing - Mr John Cushnahan returned to Hong Kong at the weekend to defend a report he wrote for the European Parliament that criticised alleged monopoly practices in Hong Kong and brought sharp reaction from China and the pro-Beijing media in Hong Kong, writes Conor O'Clery.
"Despite some criticism, I would contend the language used in my report was fair and reasonable," the Munster Fine Gael MEP told a news conference on Saturday.
The report reflected concerns that a Hong Kong tycoon, Mr Li Ka-shing, and his family wielded too much economic power, and criticised Hong Kong's decision to seek help from Beijing to overturn a ruling of a Hong Kong court giving residency rights to the children of mainland Chinese with a Hong Kong parent.
Also on Saturday a China expert said he had resigned from Hong Kong's main English-language newspaper rather than accept a change of job after writing a controversial column on Beijing leaders and Hong Kong tycoons. Mr Willy Wo-Lap Lam was told by the South China Morning Post on Friday that he would no longer be the China editor. The paper called the move a routine "organisational change".
Mr Lam said the decision "will cause serious concerns that journalists whose work has been criticised by the powers that be will be penalised by being sidelined".