民主黨於2012年6月21日到南華早報門外請願，抗議其總編輯王向偉先生低調處理關於李旺陽先生被害的新聞，進行自我政治審查，以及用威嚇性言辭回覆員工查詢。

以下是是次行動的新聞稿︰ The Democratic Party is fully concerned about how Mr. Wang Xiangwei (The Chief Editor of South China Morning Post) deals with the mysterious death of Hunan human rights defender Li Wangyang. The approach indicated self political censorship in which threatening to the press freedom. The following is the press release:    

強烈捍衛新聞自由 反對《南華早報》自我審查

2012年6月6日，湖南維權人士李旺陽在醫院「被自殺」，事件震驚中外。翌日，本港多份報章都以大篇幅報導。《南華早報》的訂閱版以六份一版面刊登該新聞在中國版；但零售版卻只以100字的簡訊報導，並置於A6版左上角不顯眼的位置。 據悉，此舉令《南華早報》記者及編輯十分不滿，有人更發電郵向總編輯王向偉先生查詢低調處理李旺陽新聞的原因；王先生回覆這是他的決定（I made that decision），並向員工表示「你若不滿意，應知道怎樣做」（ If you don`t like it, you know what to do）。這反應令員工震驚，並認為是一種恐嚇，示意他們閉嘴或離職。

新聞自由是香港的核心價值，亦是特區成功的基石，但自回歸以來，多種跡象顯示新聞自由正在被收縮，《南華早報》事件更是傳媒高層進行自我審查的活生生例子。王先生身為吉林省政協委員，決定將李旺陽新聞刊登在A6版的一角，令人懷疑是為了不想得罪內地政府，因此甘願踐踏新聞自由，進行自我審查，並損害該報的公信力；王先生以威嚇性言詞回覆員工的查詢，打擊員工的士氣。民主黨對此表示極度不滿及憤慨。

民主黨促請王先生向公眾和員工解釋當日的決定，因為事件引起廣泛公眾關注，並已成為國際事件，他有責任清楚交代；王先生亦應向員工致歉，盡力挽回《南華早報》員工的士氣和該報的聲譽；我們亦促請《南華早報》及王先生向公眾承諾，該報會尊重新聞自由，編輯獨立自主和不作自我審查，盡力捍衛香港的核心價值。

發言人：

許智峯議員 (民主黨中西區區議員)、 李永成先生 (民主黨中央委員會委員)、 柯耀林先生 (民主黨中央常務委員會委員) 2012年6月21日

Defend press freedom    Condemn SCMP self censorship

The mysterious death of Hunan human rights defender Li Wangyang on 6 June caused shock waves in Hong Kong and in the international community. Most newspapers inHong Konggave the story huge coverage. But for the South China Morning Post, the news item occupied one-sixth of a page in theChinasection of the newspaper's subscription edition. However in the retail edition, the report contained only 100 words. Some SCMP journalists were concerned with such treatment and sent an email to the Chief Editor, Mr. Wang Xiangwei, asking for an explanation. Mr. Wang replied that he made the decision and "If you don't like it, you know what to do." Some journalists regarded that as intimidation. Some saw it as an indication that the staff should either shut up or leave.

Freedom of the press is one of Hong Kong's core values, and is a key reason for Hong Kong's success. After the handover in 1997, there have been many attempts to undermine press freedom. Since Mr Wang is a member of theJilin's Chinese People's Political and Consultative Conference, there is concern that his decision to play down the Li Wangyang story was motivated by his desire not to upset and embarrass the Mainland authorities. In so doing, he has undermined the credibility of his newspaper and damaged the morale of his staff. The Democratic Party considers such behaviour conduct unbecoming of a self-respecting news organisation and would like to express its alarm and concern.

As the SCMP's self-censorship has cause public concern, we urge Mr Wang to explain to his staff and to his readers why he did and what he did. We also urge Mr Wang to apologize to his staff and to members of the public and to give an undertaking that the SCMP is committed to defending press freedom and would not condone any practice of self-censorship.

Spokesman: Mr HUI Chi-fung, Ted (Member, Central and Western District Council) Mr LI Wing-shing, Wilson (Member, DP Central Committee) Mr OR Yiu-lam, Ricky (Member, DP Executive Committee) 21/6/2012