Zunzi

Wong Kei-kwan (Chinese: 黃紀鈞, born 1955),[1] better known by his pen name Zunzi (Chinese: 尊子), is a Hong Kong political cartoonist known for his satire and pro-democracy stance and had been described as "the territory's most prominent political cartoonist".[2][3][4]

Wong Kei-kwan
Wong Kei-kwan(Zunzi) during a press conference
Traditional Chinese黃紀鈞
Simplified Chinese黄纪钧
Zunzi
Chinese尊子

Career

Zunzi was born in 1955 and was raised in Ma Tau Wai Estate during his youth life. He was educated at the Diocesan Boys' School and graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He had been teacher and joined Ming Pao as an editor for foreign wire services.[5][6]

He began his political cartoonist career in 1983 for Ming Pao at the invitation of newspaper founder Louis Cha at the time when Hong Kong people became more politically aware during the Sino-British negotiations on Hong Kong's sovereignty.[5][6][7] His cartoons were also published in Apple Daily and Next Magazine until they were forced to disband on the suspicion of violating Hong Kong national security law in 2021. He had also drawn cartoons for pro-Beijing newspapers New Evening Post and Ta Kung Pao for HK$50 each publication.[7]

His cartoons were known for its political satire about Hong Kong and Chinese politics and his pro-democracy stance, including the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, 2008 Chinese milk scandal, 2014 Hong Kong protests and the abolition of the term limit for the President of the People's Republic of China in 2018.[7]

Censorship

At an art exchange event in Singapore in 1998, Zunzi refused a request to change the content of a cartoon about founder of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew and then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and all of his works were taken down as a result. While some Hong Kong media said it was Singaporean officials who did that, Ming Pao said the action was made by the National Gallery Singapore.[6]

In 1999 soon after the handover of Macau, Zunzi, his wife and 11 Macanese artists were detained by the police for three hours for organising an "alternative" handover celebration activity.[6]

In 2020, more than half of 13 Zunzi's illustrations in a liberal education textbook published by Ming Pao were censored, which included the satire cartoons about Chief Executives Leung Chun-ying and Carrie Lam, the 2014 NPCSC Decision on Hong Kong that ruled out universal suffrage of Hong Kong in 2017 and the Causeway Bay Books disappearances.[8]

Between 2022 and 2023, the Hong Kong government on six different occasions criticised Zunzi's cartoons for "inaccuracy". On 5 January 2023, Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan posted on Facebook criticising Zunzi's cartoon for "biased, misleading and untrue allegations against the Chief Executive in fulfilling his constitutional duty to maintain national security".[6][9]

On 2 April 2023, Secretary for Security Chris Tang criticised a Zunzi's illustrations which mocked the government for allocating huge amount of funding to the Hong Kong Police's equipment renewal, accusing Zunzi of "using some misleading accusations to incite dissatisfaction with the government".[6]

Following Tang's remarks, a state-run Ta Kung Pao commentary on 4 April said Zunzi always "smears" the policies of the central and SAR government, supports the anti-China forces and mocking the patriotic forces. The commentary urged the SAR government to prosecute Zunzi for defamation.[6][10]

In May, a Zunzi cartoon mocking the proposed District Council election overhaul received criticism from the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, condemning Ming Pao repeatedly misleading remarks against the government proposal, "which is an act of politics over morality".[6][11][12]

On 11 May, Ming Pao announced that Zunzi cartoons will stop publishing from 14 May and thanked the cartoonist for "witnessing the changes of time with us in the past 40 years" without further explanation.[6][13] The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) "expressed sorrow that officials backed by huge resources targeted an individual" which showed that criticism was not tolerated. it also feared it would further fuel self-censorship. Chris Tang "strongly condemned" the HKJA's claim that the government does not respect the freedom of speech and said Ming Pao's decision was "responsible".[14]

It was reported that Zunzi's publications were also taken down in Hong Kong public libraries around 11 May. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department did not confirm the report, but said that "any book with suspected content that may violate national security or Hong Kong laws will be removed immediately for review".[15]

Personal life

He was married to Chan Ya, a Ming Pao reporter and columnist. The couple had one son Wong Yuet who was born in 2004.[5]

See also

References
  1. Tsui, Enid (3 December 2018). "Political cartoonist takes aim at Chinese reform in new show". South China Morning Post. South China Morning Post. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  2. Lent, John A. (2015). Asian Comics. University Press of Mississippi. p. 143. ISBN 9781626742949.
  3. Bambury, Brent (29 May 2020). "Hong Kong political cartoonist Zunzi says he won't back down from China's new security law". CBC.
  4. Wong, Wendy Siuyi (2018). The Disappearance of Hong Kong in Comics, Advertising and Graphic Design. Springer. p. 63. ISBN 9783319920962.
  5. "尊子漫畫散見報刊". 長青網. 2011-12-08.
  6. "尊子漫画：《明报》停刊40年政治讽刺专栏　再引香港新闻自由争议". BBC. 2023-05-11.
  7. "尊子精挑百畫展出 側看改革開放40年". 明報. 2018-11-18.
  8. "政治漫畫逾半被出版社刪除". 星島日報. 2020-08-19.
  9. Eric Chan 陳國基 (2023-01-05). "特區政府對尊子漫畫的失實指控表示深切遺憾". Facebook.
  10. "議事論事/肆意誹謗抹黑 政府應該「以訟止謗」\卓 偉". 大公报. 2023-04-04.
  11. 民政及青年事務局 Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (2023-05-09). "明報《尊子漫畫》政治凌駕道德". Facebook.
  12. Leung, Hillary (10 May 2023). "Hong Kong gov't lashes out at Ming Pao cartoon satirising small-circle committees". Hong Kong Free Press.
  13. "Removing 'non-factual' and 'misleading' content a responsible act, Hong Kong security chief says after newspaper axes Zunzi cartoons". South China Morning Post. 11 May 2023.
  14. "Ming Pao to stop publishing political cartoon Zunzi after govt complaints". The Standard. 11 May 2023.
  15. "停刊尊子｜著作突遭圖書館下架 尊子：以為一早冇曬添". 集誌社. 2023-05-11.

Further reading
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