Yes another talk radio presenter has resigned from hosting Teacup in a Storm, HK radio's main talk radio program. This follows two previous resignations over the past two weeks. All are citing vague notions of "political pressure" that are forcing them to quit. Each of them has made a decision they obviously felt was right for themselves. But if you're going to host a political talk radio program in the middle of a turbulent political time, such as HK is in at the moment, then you should damn well expect "political pressure". If you are going to be at the vanguard of the fight against Beijing you need to expect them to try and work against you. The old cliche says if you can't take the heat get out of the kithcen. In this case I'd say don't go into the kitchen in the first place if it's too hot for you already.

I do not condone the subtle and not-so-subtle pressure China has put on these presenters. But Hong Kong thankfully has some sembelence of rule of law and threats can and should be dealt with by the local authorities. So when morons smear faeces on the offices of a pro-democracy LegCo member the police do something about it. But if you put yourself in the public eye you need to expect a certain amount of pressure. You are not going to please everyone or you aren't doing your job.

There is one caveat to all of this. I am not privy to the exact circumstances of each man who has resigned. Obviously they have thought about their decisions and made what they thought was best for them. However I do wonder if they had enough backbone for the task. No one said winning over Beijing on democracy in Hong Kong would be easy. If you're going to join a battle you need to expect to get hurt.