HONG KONG: China enforces new security law by arresting Lai,
Order executed under new security law stokes fear of loss of free press
Hong Kong authorities arrested media tycoon Jimmy Lai on Monday, broadening their enforcement of a new national security law and stoking fears of a crackdown on the semi-autonomous region’s free press. Police were seen carting away boxes of what they said was evidence at Lai’s pro-democracy Next Digital headquarters.
In the evening, police arrested pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow Ting on charges of inciting secession under the same law, according to tweets by fellow activist Nathan Law, who left Hong Kong for Britain soon after the law took effect. An earlier post on Chow’s official Facebook page said police had arrived at her home and her lawyers were rushing to the scene, and a separate post later confirmed that she had been taken away by police.
Two days after Chinese and Hong Kong officials shrugged off sanctions imposed on them by the U.S., the moves showed China’s determination to enforce the new law and curb dissent in the semi-autonomous city after months of massive pro-democracy demonstrations last year.
The arrest of Lai, two of his sons and several company officers and the search of Next Digital marked the first time the law was used against news media. Next Digital operates Apple Daily, a feisty pro-democracy tabloid that often condemns China’s Communist Party-led government.
“Raiding a news institution is a severe attack on press freedom and should not be tolerated in a civilized society,” Next Digital said in a statement. “Hong Kong’s press freedom is now hanging by a thread, but our staff will remain fully committed to our duty to defend the freedom of the press.”
Apple Daily’s popularity stems from its celebrity news and flamboyant stories, but it is also known for investigative reporting and breaking news coverage. It has frequently urged readers to take part in pro-democracy protests.
On July 1, it condemned the new national security law on its front page, calling it “the final nail in the coffin” for the “one country, two systems” framework under which the former British colony has been able to enjoy much greater civil liberties than in mainland China since its return to Chinese rule in 1997.
The British government condemned Lai’s arrest. “This is further evidence that the national security law is being used as a pretext to silence opposition,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesperson, James Slack, said Monday.
The arrests of Lai and Chow came on the same day Beijing announced sanctions on 11 Americans in retaliation for Friday’s U.S. sanctions on Hong Kong and mainland officials over Hong Kong policy.