Hong Kong arrests media mogul

HONG KONG» In the highestprofile attack yet on free speech and press freedom in Hong Kong, police on Monday arrested Jimmy Lai, a prominent prodemocracy 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. When one asked Lai about the arrest and the raid, he replied gruffly, “How should I think about it, dude?”

Since the security law took effect, Hong Kong authorities have arrested people for Tshirts 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.

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.