Photo/Illutration The certificate of registration of a society of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Citizens’ Radio station hangs in the station’s Hong Kong office on June 30. (AP Photo)

HONG KONG--An unlicensed pro-democracy radio station in Hong Kong shut down Friday after 18 years on the air. The closure of Citizens’ Radio came on the eve of the 26th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to Chinese rule.

Since its launch in 2005, the station had hosted prominent democracy advocates, including former lawmakers Szeto Wah, Emily Lau, Albert Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan. But its founder, Bull Tsang said it was becoming increasingly difficult to invite guests following the enactment of a Beijing-imposed law that jailed or silenced many activists.

Coupled with banking problems and limited resources, Tsang said he had no choice but to say goodbye.

“It’s hard to let go. It’s like my third son,” Tsang, 67, told reporters before he hosted his last show on Friday night.

The closure reflects the collapse of the city’s pro-democracy movement under the national security law that followed massive protests in Hong Kong in 2019.

After the law’s enactment three years ago, dozens of civic groups disbanded, most of the city’s leading activists were charged with alleged national security crimes, and two vocal media outlets shut down as their top management was accused of sedition or collusion.

Large numbers of democracy supporters also left Hong Kong after pledges the former British colony would retain Western-style freedoms for 50 years after its return to Chinese rule on July 1 in 1997 were becoming increasingly threadbare.

On Saturday, the city will mark its handover anniversary with official celebrations. The annual massive pro-democracy protest held for years every July 1, however, appears to be a thing of the past, even as daily life has largely returned to normal following years of pandemic restrictions.

The League of Social Democrats leader Chan Po-ying told The Associated Press that her political party came under pressure to cancel its plan to stage a small-scale protest.

While Tsang’s radio station has not been directly targeted by the security law, the veteran pro-democracy activist said his guests were unclear about whether their words would be in breach of the vaguely defined red lines.

He added that the station could not pay rent after August since its bank account was recently blocked from receiving donations.

Tsang said the recent events forced him to end his years of open defiance against the government after officials rejected his request for a broadcasting license in 2006. Over the years, Tsang continued broadcasting in “civil disobedience” even after he was convicted and fined over unlicensed broadcasting and his radio station was raided by authorities.

Tsang said he might try to sell his creative drawings to raise funds to continue his work in another way. But even so, things will no longer be the same, he said.

"In the future, it is very difficult to have such form of civil disobedience like this in Hong Kong,” he said.

Related News