Hong Kong’s Last Pro-Democracy Newspaper Shuts Down Due to Chinese Communist Party Repression

What’s the story?

• The Apple Daily, Hong Kong’s last major pro-democracy newspaper, printed its final edition on Thursday and will cease operations going forward as a result of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) using its national security law to stifle the free press. 
• The closure comes after the CCP arrested Apple Daily’s top three editors and two executives last week, and also seized materials from the newspaper’s office in Hong Kong. Apple Daily said in the aftermath that it would cease operations due to concerns about the safety of its workforce. 
• The Apple Daily operated for 26 years in Hong Kong and was responsible for breaking a story involving the hidden wealth of CCP leaders and unethical activities of Hong Kong officials. Its owner, Jimmy Lai, was arrested under the CCP’s national security law after it took effect last year and is currently incarcerated. 
• President Joe Biden released a statement condemning the CCP’s efforts to stifle the free press in Hong Kong:

“It’s a sad day for media freedom in Hong Kong and around the world. Intensifying repression by Beijing has reached such a level that Apple Daily, a much-needed bastion of independent journalism in Hong Kong, has now ceased publishing. Through arrests, threats, and forcing through a National Security Law that penalizes free speech, Beijing has insisted on wielding its power to suppress independent media and silence dissenting views.”

• British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a press conference that the closure of Apple Daily is the latest action by the CCP that runs contrary to China’s commitment to respect Hong Kong’s autonomy and democracy for at least 50 years through 2049:

“We certainly view what’s been happening with the closure of the Apple Daily and the arrest of journalists very, very seriously. It is part of the ongoing failure to comply with the joint declaration by China -- a series of commitments to respect their freedoms and the people of Hong Kong. That’s reflected in the Basic Law, and we call on China to respect the terms that it freely signed up to.”

• Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian responded:

“The Chinese government administers Hong Kong on the basis of its own constitution and the Basic Law, not the Sino-British Joint Declaration. No foreign country is in a position to make irresponsible remarks on Hong Kong-related affairs and China’s internal affairs. We urge the U.K. side to face up to the fact that Hong Kong has been returned to China for 24 years. They should abandon their colonial dream.”

• The branch of Apple Daily that’s published in Taiwan will continue to operate. Taiwanese Vice President William Lai tweeted that Taiwan supports the people of Hong Kong:

“Freedom of the press is like the air for democracy. The people of Hong Kong are losing Apple Daily but they will not lose their courage. Their dignity and ideals are still there. Taiwan stands with you.”

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: Just Click’s With A Camera via Flickr / Public Domain)