MANILA - Several Hong Kong journalists were kicked out of the APEC CEO Summit after shouting questions at President Aquino about the 2010 Manila hostage crisis that left 8 Hong Kong tourists dead. Host Indonesia also withdrew the credentials of the Hong Kong journalists, saying they posed a security threat to Aquino. Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda expressed dismay over the incident and said the conduct of the journalists "bordered on rudeness." He also cited a South China Morning Post report of the incident that showed many netizens disapprove of the conduct of the Hong Kong journalists. A comment by OldPeak Toad said: "In Hong Kong loud is rude when it comes form mainlanders! But when rude HK journalists are loud in foreign countries it's called exercising press freedom - and worse, now for a change they ask their beloved HK government for help. You see, when in foreign countries people do not hesitate to tell you off. Bali and APEC is not Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Government. Maybe these 'journalists' should read the rules for mainland tourists!" User tenfon noted: "Sounded like yelling to me and the reporters were up to their usual practice of trying to barge in and stick a microphone right in the face. I'm sorry but this has nothing to do with press freedom, it's just poor behavior. They get away with it here in Hong Kong because no one has the guts to challenge them, because they immediately play the 'press-freedom' card, accompanied by a chorus of cries from certain politicians." Another comment from chuchu59 read: "You can say the reporters took it on themselves. This is not an occasion where a head of state walks by and reporters just scream out their questions. Frankly, these arent questions they are accusations and nobody in his/her right mind would answer on the spot." User sudo rm -f cy, however, said the perceived "rudeness" of the reporters "is detracting from the main issue: Aquino still refuses to apologize for the total incompetence of his police force leading to eight totally avoidable deaths." The Hong Kong Journalists Association has condemned APEC's move to bar HK journalists from covering the APEC. The group's chairperson called the move an outright infringement of press freedom, adding that the journalists were just doing their jobs and asking questions of public concern. http://www.hkja.org.hk/site/portal/Site.aspx?id=A1-1106&lang=en-US ANC ALERTS, October 7, 2013