Once seen as the bastion of free press and speech in Asia, Hong Kong now seems to be changing day by day.
Police on Monday morning arrested Beijing’s most prominent media tycoon and critic of the city, Jimmy Lai, under the new national security law.
Hundreds of police officers also stormed the newsroom of his pro-democracy media outlet, Apple Daily, and roamed through documents at journalists’ offices as Lai was led through the office with handcuffs.
Lai’s arrest, for suspected collusion with foreign troops, is the highest profile of the sweeping new legislation, imposed by Beijing on June 30 after protests last year.
It is not clear what specific action led to the arrest of the 72-year-old.
The law punishes everything Beijing goes through, considering separation, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with sentences of up to life in prison.
Apple Daily said Lai’s son along with executives were detained at the paper.
Hong Kong police have confirmed that at least nine people, aged between 23 and 72, were arrested on suspicion of violating the new law.
The raid was streamed live on Apple Daily’s official Facebook page.
A journalist working for Apple Daily spoke to ABC News on condition of anonymity.
He was expected to start work later in the day, but received a message in the morning from his supervisor not to come to the office.
‘I was ready for this day to come, but I did not expect it to come as quickly and in the way it did. The police were seriously informed about the privacy of journalists and the confidentiality of their news material, “said the Hong Kong local resident.
He describes feeling “sad, angry and scared” about the ordeal.
Pro-democracy and press advocacy groups were quick to condemn Monday’s events, with the Hong Kong Journalist Association warning journalists in the city to prepare for further crackdowns on reporters.
Hungarian Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong said it signals “a dark new phase in the erosion of the city’s global reputation.”
Amnesty International called it “a disturbing demonstration of how the Hong Kong authorities intend to use the new national security law to threaten press freedom.”
The security law has been widely condemned by Western governments, which accuse Beijing of breaking its promise to allow the territory semi-autonomy under the “One country, two systems” framework.
Monday’s newsroom raid comes as reports emerge of a new unit within the Hong Kong Immigration Department that now includes visas for foreign journalists.
Later in the day, it was revealed that local freelance journalist, Wilson Li, was among those arrested.
Li, whose clients include the UK’s ITN, was once a member of the student activist group Scholarism.
Washington and Beijing are engaged in a tit-for-tat spat over journalists as part of a broader cold war between the world’s two largest economies.
Also on Monday, Beijing is rolling out expected sanctions on 11 U.S. officials, including Republican senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.
Last week, the US announced sanctions on Chief Executive Carrie Lam and 10 other officials from Hong Kong and Beijing.
Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Chinese state-run Global Times, said Lai’s arrest proved that Hong Kong authorities would not be intimidated by US sanctions.
Hu tweeted that Washington’s sanctions will send HK officials from HK to Beijing … In the future, the sanctions will also send the hearts and minds of the entire HK society to the Chinese mainland, and promote the unity of China . ”
The timing of today’s raid and the new round of sanctions are also raising eyebrows.
On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of Health Alex Azar began his visit to Taiwan, which is likely to shake Beijing, considering the autonomous island a renegade province.
Veteran Democrat Albert Ho told ABC News that he finds “the unusual scale” of Monday’s police attack “a revenge, to show the U.S. government about the anger that results from the deployment of sanctions. ”
Ho was accused last Friday along with Lai and more than 20 others of attending an event to mark the Theme of Tiananmen Square from 1989 to June 4.
Lai and Ho are part of what Chinese state media have called the ‘gang of four’, accusing them of unrest, along with founder Martin Lee and former general secretary Anson Chan.
Ho said he had long considered the possibility that “this long arm could extend me.”
Ho, who runs a law firm in the city, said: ‘I do not allow myself to be scared and intimidated. I will stand firm that I have done nothing wrong against my country. I have only proposed for my country to democratize and that one party dictatorship should be reformed into a democratic system. ”
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