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dpa
Beijing
Another pro-democracy media outlet in Hong Kong has ceased operations due to pressure from the authorities.
After several senior employees were arrested on Wednesday, the online publication Stand News announced that it had dismissed all staff members and ceased operations with immediate effect.
“The website and all social media will immediately cease to update and will be removed within days,” it said in a Facebook message.
“Thank you to the readers for your continued support,” it said. Earlier, Hong Kong’s national security police arrested six people linked to Stand News, local media reported.
The Hong Kong Police Force said in a statement that it had arrested “six senior staff members or former senior staff members of an online media company ... for conspiracy to publish seditious publication.” In a separate statement, police said that more than 200 officers carried out raids on Wednesday with a warrant to search and seize “relevant journalistic materials” issued under the national security law, a controversial piece of legislation imposed by Beijing in mid-2020.
Police said they arrested three men and three women.
Hong Kong’s security law targets pro-democracy opposition and criminalizes activities considered subversive, separatist, terrorist or conspiratorial by Beijing. In the view of critics, it serves to silence the opposition and cement the power of the Communist Party.Over 100 democracy activists have been arrested under the vague and far-reaching law, and dozens remain in jail on protest-related charges.
In June, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily was shut down after the tabloid was targeted by the authorities for alleged violations of the law.
On July 1, 1997, the former British Crown Colony returned to Chinese rule and is governed semi-autonomously as a so-called special administrative region.
According to a survey released in November, 46 per cent of all journalists working in Hong Kong are considering leaving since the introduction of the law.As many as 84 per cent of respondents said their working conditions had deteriorated since the law’s introduction in July 2020, while 56 per cent said that fear of legal consequences had led them to self-censor.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen late Wednesday on social media called on the international community to stand up for freedom and democracy in Hong Kong.
“The arrests of #StandNews staff & singer Denise Ho @hoccgoomusic are yet another example of the Beijing authorities’ crackdown on free speech in #HongKong,” Tsai tweeted. Ho, a popular Cantopop singer and prominent pro-democracy activist with links to Stand News, was among those arrested on Wednesday.The tweet was posted with a photo with the words: “Taiwan stands with the people of Hong Kong in their pursuit of freedom and democracy.” Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also condemned the arrests: “RSF urges for the release of all journalists detained and calls on democracies to react and defend what is left of the free press in the territory,” it said in a statement.
“Exactly six months after the dismantling of the Next Digital group and its flagship newspaper Apple Daily, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam once again shows her determination to terminate press freedom in the territory by eliminating Stand News in a similar fashion,” said Cedric Alviani, RSF’s East Asia bureau head.
Alviani urged democracies “to act in line with their own values and obligations and defend what’s left of the free press in Hong Kong before China’s model of information control claims another victim.”
Beijing
Another pro-democracy media outlet in Hong Kong has ceased operations due to pressure from the authorities.
After several senior employees were arrested on Wednesday, the online publication Stand News announced that it had dismissed all staff members and ceased operations with immediate effect.
“The website and all social media will immediately cease to update and will be removed within days,” it said in a Facebook message.
“Thank you to the readers for your continued support,” it said. Earlier, Hong Kong’s national security police arrested six people linked to Stand News, local media reported.
The Hong Kong Police Force said in a statement that it had arrested “six senior staff members or former senior staff members of an online media company ... for conspiracy to publish seditious publication.” In a separate statement, police said that more than 200 officers carried out raids on Wednesday with a warrant to search and seize “relevant journalistic materials” issued under the national security law, a controversial piece of legislation imposed by Beijing in mid-2020.
Police said they arrested three men and three women.
Hong Kong’s security law targets pro-democracy opposition and criminalizes activities considered subversive, separatist, terrorist or conspiratorial by Beijing. In the view of critics, it serves to silence the opposition and cement the power of the Communist Party.Over 100 democracy activists have been arrested under the vague and far-reaching law, and dozens remain in jail on protest-related charges.
In June, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily was shut down after the tabloid was targeted by the authorities for alleged violations of the law.
On July 1, 1997, the former British Crown Colony returned to Chinese rule and is governed semi-autonomously as a so-called special administrative region.
According to a survey released in November, 46 per cent of all journalists working in Hong Kong are considering leaving since the introduction of the law.As many as 84 per cent of respondents said their working conditions had deteriorated since the law’s introduction in July 2020, while 56 per cent said that fear of legal consequences had led them to self-censor.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen late Wednesday on social media called on the international community to stand up for freedom and democracy in Hong Kong.
“The arrests of #StandNews staff & singer Denise Ho @hoccgoomusic are yet another example of the Beijing authorities’ crackdown on free speech in #HongKong,” Tsai tweeted. Ho, a popular Cantopop singer and prominent pro-democracy activist with links to Stand News, was among those arrested on Wednesday.The tweet was posted with a photo with the words: “Taiwan stands with the people of Hong Kong in their pursuit of freedom and democracy.” Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also condemned the arrests: “RSF urges for the release of all journalists detained and calls on democracies to react and defend what is left of the free press in the territory,” it said in a statement.
“Exactly six months after the dismantling of the Next Digital group and its flagship newspaper Apple Daily, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam once again shows her determination to terminate press freedom in the territory by eliminating Stand News in a similar fashion,” said Cedric Alviani, RSF’s East Asia bureau head.
Alviani urged democracies “to act in line with their own values and obligations and defend what’s left of the free press in Hong Kong before China’s model of information control claims another victim.”
