Police on Monday arrested the media tycoon and activist Jimmy Lai, his sons and several executives of his publishing group for allegedly colluding with foreign forces, a crime punishable by life imprisonment under a sweeping national security law that China recently imposed on Hong Kong.
Officers arrived at the home of Lai and his sons, Mark Simon, a close aide and senior executive at Lai’s media group Next Digital, said in a tweet. Police were executing search warrants, Simon added. He said the alleged crime was colluding with foreign powers. Next Digital is the parent company of Apple Daily, a pro-democracy news outlet critical of Beijing that Lai founded in 1995.
Shortly afterward, more than 200 police entered Next Digital’s offices, according to the company’s Facebook page and a live-stream of the raid, and searched the Apple Daily newsroom. They rifled through reporters’ desks and papers, told employees to show their identification cards, and warned journalists to stop filming and photographing the raid as it unfolded.
The dramatic events were the most drastic use of the security law since it took effect last month, and highlighted the growing threat to the safety of pro-democracy activists and journalists in Hong Kong, where press freedom is supposed to enjoy constitutional protection.
In a statement, the Hong Kong Police Force said it had arrested seven men between the ages of 39 and 72 on suspicion of breaching the security law, without naming the suspects. Police said the operation was continuing.
The arrests come after the U.S. Treasury Department last week imposed sanctions on Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and 10 other officials, including Beijing’s envoy in the city, the police commissioner and his predecessor, for eviscerating political freedoms in Hong Kong. The city’s government said it would support Chinese countermeasures, calling the sanctions “shameless and despicable.”
“I have expected this day would come, but I did not expect it to come at this moment, after the U.S. sanctions,” said a journalist at Apple Daily, speaking on the condition of anonymity over fears for their safety. “These arrests are about revenge. They are targeting us, a media outlet which is the most outspoken against the Hong Kong government and Beijing.”
A senior journalist at Apple Daily, also requesting anonymity to protect their safety, added that arresting Lai was “just the first step.”
“Shutting down Apple Daily and threatening other media organizations is the goal — so that no one dares to speak the truth at the end. It is not excessive to say this is the end of Hong Kong press freedom,” the person said.
As bad as things are in the US, they're much worse in China and Hong Kong. The Trump regime wouldn't hesitate to march Jeff Bezos off to federal prison and shut down the Washington Post given the opportunity to do so, and I'm surprised he hasn't done so already.
I fully expect another round of massive protests in Hong Kong to free Jimmy Lai. We'll see how the world responds to China over this. My guess is other than toothless US sanctions, we won't see much.
It would be good for Joe Biden to come out very forcefully this week against China here. Just saying.
Apple Daily is among Hong Kong’s most-read media outlets, and Next Digital employs thousands of staff in the city. Several Next Digital executives were among those arrested Monday, a person familiar with the situation said.
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