THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 23, 2021 at 16:50 JST
A copy of the Apple Daily, Hong Kong's pro-democracy tabloid in Hong Kong on June 18 (The Asahi Shimbun)
HONG KONG--Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper will close by this weekend after police arrested five editors and executives and froze $2.3 million in assets linked to the paper.
The board of directors said in a statement Wednesday that its print edition and online edition will cease no later than Saturday due to “the current circumstances prevailing in Hong Kong.”
The widely expected move followed last week’s arrests. The five were detained on suspicion of colluding with foreigners to endanger national security. Police cited more than 30 articles published by the paper as evidence of an alleged conspiracy to impose foreign sanctions on Hong Kong and China.
It was the freezing of assets that spelled the paper’s demise. The board of directors had earlier this week written to Hong Kong’s security bureau requesting the release of some of its funds so that the company could pay wages.
The police operation against Apple Daily drew criticism from the U.S., the EU and Britain, which say Hong Kong and Chinese authorities are targeting the freedoms promised to the city when the former British colony was returned to China in 1997.
Chinese and Hong Kong officials have said the media must abide by the law, and that press freedom cannot be used as a “shield” for illegal activities.
Hong Kong newspaper increases print run after arrests
June 18, 2021
HK’s Apple Daily raided by 500 officers over national security law
June 18, 2021
Hong Kong police granted sweeping powers under security law
July 7, 2020
Next Digital trading halted after Jimmy Lai’s assets frozen
May 17, 2021
3 former pro-democracy lawmakers arrested in Hong Kong
November 18, 2020
Hong Kong police arrest Apple Daily executives, seize reporting materials in national security law raid
June 17, 2021
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
