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Last week, the assets of the Hong Kong democratic tabloid “Apple Daily” were frozen by the government and its operating capacity was restricted. The newspaper is on the verge of bankruptcy.
The assets freeze came after 500 policemen raided the Apple Daily’s office on June 17 and arrested two senior executives of the newspaper in accordance with China’s strict national security laws. Jimmy Lai, the owner of the newspaper, has been sentenced to prison.
Critics say these actions marked a new low for press freedom in Chinese territory, and the city promised freedom of speech when it was handed over from the UK to China in 1997. After Beijing introduced a national security law that heralded severe repression, this situation changed with regard to civil society and politics.
The repression aimed at quelling the dissent during the large-scale anti-government protests in 2019 has been extended to the previously arbitrary media. But the police’s act of accusing Ryan Law, editor-in-chief of Apple Daily, is the first time that national security laws have been used directly against journalists.
The newspaper was one of the last newspapers to hold a hardline editorial stance against the Hong Kong government, and it has repeatedly been the target of Chinese officials.
According to Apple Daily, the board of directors of Next Digital, the parent company of Apple Daily, met on Monday and will make a final decision this week on whether to continue publishing. The company plans to submit an application to the Hong Kong Security Bureau, requesting it to unfreeze some of its assets to pay its employees.
Lai’s former senior adviser, Max Simon, said the newspaper’s management has been unable to find other ways to support its continued operations.
“Crowdfunding will not work because the bank has been instructed not to process any payments. I have received a message that we cannot process payments to our friends,” he said.
If the authorities reject the application, a decision is expected to be made on Friday, the last paper will be published on Saturday, and the news website will cease operations at midnight on Friday. According to an internal notice seen by the Financial Times, employees will be allowed to resign immediately without notice today.
“they [police] Naked and completely destroyed the last line of defense to protect press freedom,” a reporter from Next Digital told the Financial Times.
Law and Next Digital CEO Zhang Jinxiong was denied bail on Saturday on national security charges. The police stated that they were accused of participating in a conspiracy to encourage foreign countries to impose sanctions on Hong Kong by publishing articles to encourage foreign countries to impose sanctions on Hong Kong.
The authorities also froze HK$18 million (US$2.3 million) from three companies associated with Apple Daily. Trading in Next Digital’s stock was suspended on Monday after the suspension was announced last Thursday.
Security Minister John Lee accused the newspaper of engaging in criminal activities and said that police actions would not threaten press freedom. “They are different from ordinary reporters,” he said last week. “Don’t have anything to do with them.”
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