Hong Kong arrests media mogul, cites national security
The police arrived early Monday to arrest Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy media tycoon, taking him out of his mansion handcuffed and flanked by officers.
Hours later, Lai was being led through the newsroom of his newspaper, still handcuffed, while more than 200 officers filed into the building and rifled through desks. Reporters began livestreaming video of the raid. When one asked Lai about the arrest and the raid, he replied gruffly, “How should I think about it, dude?”
Lai and his publication, Apple Daily, have long been a thorn in the side of the Chinese Communist Party for their support of the pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong. Now, Lai’s arrest under the territory’s sweeping national security law makes him the most high-profile example of the power of the new legislation to subdue the party’s detractors.
The police also arrested
Lai’s two sons, who are not involved in his media business, and four executives from Lai’s company, Next Digital, including its chief executive, Cheung Kim-hung. The sweep stoked concerns that the new law would be used to curb the city’s freewheeling press as part of a broader crackdown on democracy advocates.
The campaign against the pro-democracy movement, including the barring last month of 12 pro-democracy candidates from an upcoming legislative election, has drawn a global outcry.
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Britain and the United States said in a joint statement Sunday that they were “gravely concerned” by the disqualification of candidates and the security law.
By Monday afternoon, police said they had arrested two more people, for a total of nine, ages 23 to 72, on suspected violations of the security law.
In the evening, police arrested Agnes Chow, a prominent activist and politician, on suspected national security law violations of inciting secession, her lawyer said.