Cheng pursued case after her July 2024 dismissal

A Hong Kong court convicted Dow Jones Publishing, the parent company of the Wall Street Journal, of “preventing or deterring an employee from exercising trade union rights.” The court acquitted the company of “dismissing or discriminating against an employee because she exercised those rights.”

Principal magistrate David Cheung said Selina Cheng’s termination “was motivated by wrongful and unjustified application of their code of conduct” when the company insisted that she needed prior approval to stand as chair of the Hong Kong Journalist Association. Cheung accepted Cheng’s explanation, describing the former Wall Street Journal reporter as “honest and reliable” and motivated by “the wish to see justice.”

Cheng lost her job in July 2024, weeks after taking up the union chair position, and launched the private prosecution against Dow Jones Publishing. She had covered China’s automobiles and energy sectors for the Wall Street Journal and said she was told her termination was officially due to restructuring.

Cheng said her editor had told her employees should not be seen as advocating for press freedom in “places like Hong Kong” because it could be perceived as a conflict of interest. She alleged that her employer tried to prevent her from taking up a role in the union.

Cheng also said the company required her to seek its approval for outside activities and requested that she leave her then-board position at the association.

Dow Jones Publishing pleaded not guilty to both charges. The defense argued that Cheng was terminated because of redundancy and that the prosecution had not sufficiently proved that the company’s management instructed Cheng’s supervisor. The defense also accused Cheng of acting in bad faith in a previous hearing.

Each charge carries a maximum fine of HK$100,000, or about $12,750. Sentencing is expected at a later date.

The Wall Street Journal maintained there was no link between Cheng’s role in the Hong Kong union and her termination. At the time of her dismissal, the newspaper said: “The Wall Street Journal has been and continues to be a fierce and vocal advocate for press freedom in Hong Kong and around the world.”

Outside court on Thursday, Cheng said: “If reporters’ employment rights are not sufficiently safeguarded, or when their rights are violated and not enforced in law, then we can no longer work safely as reporters.”

Eric Lai, a senior fellow at the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said: “The WSJ set a very bad precedent by punishing an employee who was exercising her constitutionally protected rights in Hong Kong.”

The Guardian reported that Cheng’s termination alarmed journalists working in what the newspaper described as an increasingly restricted media environment. Foreign outlets in Hong Kong have traditionally faced less pressure than local news outlets, the Guardian reported.

The Hong Kong Journalist Association is the city’s oldest journalist union. Established in 1968, it is registered as a trade union representing journalists and workers in news. The Guardian reported that the organization has faced increasing pressure since the introduction of a Beijing-imposed national security law in 2020.

Reporters Without Borders ranked Hong Kong 73rd in the world in 2019. In 2026, the organization ranked Hong Kong 140th out of 180 countries and territories, a difference of 67 places.