Hong Kong arrests media mogul under new law
HONG KONG — In the highestprofile attack yet on free speech and press freedom in Hong Kong, police Monday arrested Jimmy Lai, a prominent pro-democracy media tycoon, and raided the offices of his newspaper, demonstrating China’s resolve to silence dissent and bring the city to heel.
The arrest was the most striking in a series of moves against critics and democracy advocates by Beijing and the allied administration of Hong Kong, in the six weeks since China adopted a sweeping new national security law. And it validated fears that authorities would make aggressive use of the law, aiming to smother the territory’s freewheeling press and political culture.
“It just gives the lie to any assurances that the national security law would just target a few people involved in rioting,” said Keith Richburg, director of the
University of Hong Kong’s journalism school. “It’s put a chilling effect over everything here.”
Lai and his media company supported the anti-government, pro-democracy protests that gripped the city last year. On Monday, police officers led him out of his mansion in handcuffs and, hours later, more than 200 officers filed into the newsroom of his newspaper, Apple Daily, and rifled through desks.
Some Apple Daily reporters livestreamed video of the raid, documenting a story unfolding in their own offices, while others looked on in stunned silence.
Police also arrested Lai’s two sons, who are not involved in his media business, and four executives from his company, Next Digital, including its chief executive,
Cheung Kim-hung.
Since the security law took effect, Hong Kong authorities have arrested people for T-shirts and tweets that were seen as advocating independence from China, have asserted a right to prosecute critics abroad, have barred 12 pro-democracy candidates from legislative elections and have postponed those elections by a year.
On Friday, the Trump administration placed sanctions on Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, and 10 other senior officials over their roles in suppressing dissent. China retaliated Monday by sanctioning 11 American nonprofit leaders and lawmakers, including Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Ted Cruz, RTexas.