Beijing [China], China is among the world's 10 most dangerous countries for media professionals in a 2024 ranking, Voice of America (VOA) reports. Global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said press freedom in Asia continues to decline, hitting 26 out of 31 countries included in its annual index. According to the group's latest press freedom index, Asia is the second most difficult region. Practicing Journalism Reportedly, five countries in the region – Myanmar, China, North Korea and Vietnam – are among the world's 10 most dangerous countries for media professionals in a 2024 ranking, VOA reported. Furthermore, no country in the Asia-Pacific region is in the top 1 ranking in terms of press freedom.The world's remaining three communist governments, China, North Korea and Vietnam, have long ranked near the bottom of 180 countries in RSF's Press Freedom Index ranking. According to TVOA, this year China was ranked 172nd, Vietnam 174th and North Korea 177th. Overall, these countries and regions have seen a decline in press freedom in recent years, making East Asia a difficult place for media to operate. Furthermore, Hong Kong was once a model for press freedom in the Asia region, but the city's ranking recently dropped from 80 to 148 following political unrest and new laws affecting media freedom. Since Beijing's move to impose national security laws in 2020, at least a dozen media outlets have been closed.Beijing said the law was necessary to stabilize the city after widespread political unrest in 2019, VOA reported. Aleksandra Białkowska, an advocacy officer at RSF, stressed that Hong Kong's media freedom has still not improved, "The worst situation for Hong Kong is the political and legal factors. Hong Kong's situation is very low; the situation remains very difficult. It has happened,” he said.