A Hong Kong court has convicted the Wall Street Journal’s publisher of attempting to prevent a former reporter from taking up leadership of an embattled press union, but cleared it of unlawfully firing her.

Selina Cheng, the chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, arrives at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on September 10, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Principal Magistrate David Cheung delivered his ruling to Selina Cheng, a former reporter for the WSJ and chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday.

Cheng initiated the private prosecution against Dow Jones Publishing, the parent company of her former employer, alleging that she had been unlawfully dismissed in July 2024, after she was elected chair of the press union.

Representing Cheng, Senior Counsel Nigel Kat said in his closing statements in July that an employee enjoys “far-reaching protection” under the city’s Employment Ordinance, which prohibits employers from preventing, deterring, or firing a worker over union participation.

The HKJA has seen increasing pressure from authorities in recent years, facing tax audits alongside several local independent media outlets and their employees, and being discredited in comments by the city’s security chief.

Wall Street Journal Corporate Headquarters in New York. File photo: John Wisniewski, via Flickr CC2.0.

In a July 2024 press conference held the day she was fired, Cheng said the paper had told her that WSJ employees should not be seen as advocating press freedom “in a place like Hong Kong.”

‘Directing mind and will’

In their closing submissions, lawyers for the two parties also argued over whether Cheng’s then-supervisor and a human resources director represented the company when they cited her leadership bid in conversations about her dismissal.

Senior Counsel Benson Tsoi, representing Dow Jones, argued that the prosecution had not proven that the two individuals were indeed instructed by the “directing mind and will” of the company in their communications with Cheng.

Before Cheng’s firing, Deborah Ball, the journal’s Asia editor and Cheng’s supervisor at the time, told Cheng that her intention to stand for office at the HKJA was “not compatible” with her employment, the court heard.

Ex-Wall Street Journal reporter Selina Cheng speaking with journalists outside Eastern Magistrates’ Courts after receiving her verdict on September 10, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Kerene Ko, a human resources director at Dow Jones at the time, later informed Cheng by email that she “did not seek, and will not receive the company’s approval” to pursue the role of HKJA chairperson.

Reading his ruling aloud on Thursday, Magistrate Cheung said that the “only possible inference” that could be drawn from this conversation was that she was acting for Dow Jones.

That could be corroborated by subsequent events, including Ko getting in touch, Ball telling her supervisor Gordon Fairclough that Cheng was unwilling to drop out of the leadership race, and the reporter’s termination later on, Cheung said.

“The only inference was that she was under the directing mind” of Dow Jones, the magistrate said.

Requiring permission from the company to stand for union office amounted to a “calculated” act meant to interfere with employees’ rights to run for union leadership, he added.

Cleared of second charge

In deciding to acquit Dow Jones of unlawful termination, the magistrate accepted the publisher’s argument that a redundancy exercise had taken place before Cheng was fired.

The court also noted that she was given severance pay and fired on the spot, unlike the employees who were all terminated in one go, with one month’s notice. But Cheung agreed with the defence that the American publisher was “perfectly entitled” to fire employees with severance pay.

Ex-Wall Street Journal reporter Selina Cheng (right) with her legal team outside Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on September 10, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

”This accords with business common sense which I cannot ignore,” he said, adding that the defence raised sufficient reasonable doubt by arguing that Cheng was fired as part of a restructuring exercise.

The magistrate also detailed his decision to reject Dow Jones’ earlier bid to accuse Cheng of abusing the legal process and have the case thrown out. He shot down the American newspaper’s application and ordered the lawsuit to continue in March.

Lawyers for Dow Jones previously sought a stay of proceedings, saying Cheng’s request for a HK$3 million settlement indicated an “ulterior purpose” of seeking money, which the publisher said amounted to an abuse of the legal system.

The publisher accused her of intentionally concealing her settlement request from Hong Kong’s labour authorities and the court so she would not appear to have an ulterior motive, whereas Cheng denied the claim.

The HKJA chair had previously explained that the HK$3 million was supposed to be compensation for damages to herself and the union.

Ex-Wall Street Journal reporter Selina Cheng speaking with journalists outside Eastern Magistrates’ Courts after receiving her verdict on September 10, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

“I accept her explanation and find that the way she handled matters could not affect her integrity in proceedings,” Cheung said. “I find that [Cheng] was motivated to seek compensation for loss and to see justice done.”

Cheng, who covered the Chinese electric vehicle industry, was fired in July 2024 on the grounds of redundancy, as the WSJ relocated its centre of reporting in Asia from Hong Kong to Singapore.

Cheng accused Dow Jones of one count of “doing an act calculated to prevent or deter” her from becoming an HKJA officer, and a second charge of terminating her employment over her union participation, under the city’s Employment Ordinance.

Under the ordinance, an employer could be fined up to HK$100,000 for each of the offences if found guilty.