Hong Kong’s Apple Daily vows to ‘fight on’ after owner arrested

Hong Kong’s Apple Daily tabloid responded with defiance yesterday to the arrest of owner Jimmy Lai under a new national security law imposed by Beijing, promising to “fight on” in a frontpage headline over an image of Lai in handcuffs.

Readers queued from the early hours to get copies of the pro-democracy tabloid a day after police raided its offices and took Lai into detention, the highest-profile arrest so far under the national security law.

“Apple Daily must fight on”, the front page headline read, amid fears the national security law amounts to an assault on freedom of speech in the semi-autonomous territory.

“Yesterday will not be the darkest day for Apple Daily as the subsequent nuisances, suppression and arrests will continue to induce fear in us,” it wrote in an editorial.

“Nevertheless, the prayers and encouragement of many readers and writers make us believe that as long as there are readers, there will be writers, and that Apple Daily shall certainly fight on.”

More than 500,000 copies were printed, up from the usual 100,000, the paper said on its website.

Dozens of people queued for the paper in the workingclass neighbourhood of Mong Kok as early as 2:00 a.m. (1800 GMT). Some vendors said they sold out during the morning rush-hour.

“What the police did yesterday interfered with press freedom brutally,” said 45-year-old Kim Yau as she bought a copy.

“All Hong Kongers with a conscience have to support Hong Kong today, support Apple Daily.”

Police detained Lai on Monday for suspected collusion with foreign forces after about 200 officers searched the newspaper’s offices, collecting 25 boxes of evidence.

On the mainland, the China Daily newspaper wrote in an editorial that Lai’s arrest showed “the cost of dancing with the enemy”. The Beijing-backed paper added that “justice delayed didn’t mean the absence of justice”.