Apple Daily: Hong Kong newspaper defiant after crackdown

Hong Kong’s Apple Daily newspaper has promised to ‘fight’ following the arrest of owner Jimmy Lai under a controversial security law imposed by Beijing.

In extraordinary scenes that streamed through the paper on Monday, a handcuff was let Mr Lai through his newsroom when about 200 policemen raided the building.

The pro-democracy activist was among 10 people arrested on charges, including collaborating with foreign troops.

The movement caused worldwide condemnation of the escalating collapse of dissent.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said China had “worked out” Hong Kong’s freedoms.

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On Tuesday, the front page of Apple Daily showed a picture of Mr. Lai in handcuffs with the caption: “Apple Daily must fight on.”

In some parts of the city, Hong Kongers were queuing for a copy as early as 2:30 a.m. when vendors reported that they were selling from the popular tabloid set up by Mr. Lai.

The paper, which offers a rare and unvarnished survey of the Hong Kong and Chinese leadership, said more than 500,000 copies were printed, up from the usual 100,000.

Mr Lai, who is considered by many in Hong Kong to be a hero for his direct criticism of Beijing’s top leadership, is the highest-profile detainee using the new legislation to date.

But on the mainland he has long been called a traitor.

Hours after his arrest, prominent youth activist Agnes Chow and Wilson Li, a freelance journalist, were also arrested under the same law.

Global outcry

The arrests renew criticism from Washington, London and the United Nations over heightened attacks on the city’s freedoms.

“I am deeply concerned about reports of the arrest of @JimmyLaiApple under Hong Kong’s draconian National Security Act, “tweeted U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“Further evidence that the CCP has unleashed the freedoms of Hong Kong and eroded the rights of its people,” he wrote.

Similar sentiments were expressed in Britain, which has already said it will suspend its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and offer a path to citizenship for many of the city’s residents, in light of the new law .

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“This is further evidence that national security law is being used as a condition of silence,” a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Reuters. “The Hong Kong authorities need to uphold the rights and freedoms of their people.”

The controversial security law introduced in Hong Kong in June had already prompted some of the city’s top-profile activists to flee abroad in anticipation of a broader clampdown on the city’s freedoms.

Speaking from London, pro-democracy activist Nathan Law told the BBC that the arrests “were certainly revenge against the US sanction on Hong Kong officials”.

The US previously had 11 Chinese officials and allies in Hong Kong – including Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam – to curtail political freedoms.

Days later, Beijing responded with sanctions against 11 U.S. citizens.

Mr Law also described it as the final step “to endanger Hong Kong’s freedom”, silence Hong Kongers and create a greater “policy of fear”.

Press club warning

In another sign of the growing backlash on Hong Kong media, Chinese officials have issued a stern warning to the city of the Foreign Foreign Correspondents’ Club over its statement condemning Monday’s robberies and arrests.

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The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Bureau of Investigation in Hong Kong told the FCC “to stop damaging the implementation” of the new law “under condition of freedom of the press”, state media reported Xinhua.

“The FCC has rushed to free Lai, which is to help and cooperate with anti-China forces to destroy Hong Kong,” it said, with a spokesman for the agency.

The UN also expressed renewed concerns.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called on the authorities to monitor the operation of the law and “amend it as necessary to ensure that there is no room for its abuse of human rights guaranteed by international law and Hong Kong Constitution. “

Human Rights Watch said the attack on Apple Daily could also be an attempt to restrict the circulation of the paper.

“Under Xi Jinping, the Communist Party has long shown itself afraid of public opinion on the mainland, and is using the new national security law to try to defeat Hong Kong’s independent voices and settle scores with long-standing critics,” HRW Asia said director Brad Adams.

Pro-democracy protest erupted last year in Hong Kong over plans to allow extradition of the territory to mainland China. While this proposal was eventually withdrawn, the demonstrations continued, to reflect extensive demands for democratic reforms.