The Wall Street Journal is under fire after it dismissed Hong Kong-based reporter Selina Cheng after she was elected last month as chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Hong Kong’s largest media union. The Wall Street Journal claims her firing was due to restructuring. Selina Cheng spoke to reporters Wednesday.

Selina Cheng: “At that time, he demanded that I resign from my position on the executive committee of the journalists’ association. I told him that day that I refused, but he said the position in the journalists’ association was incompatible with my position at The Wall Street Journal. He said that employees of The Wall Street Journal should be promoting press freedom in places like Hong Kong. He said this place is not like some Western countries where press freedom has already been established.”