Opposition Media Figure and Political Activist Both Arrested in Hong Kong

Just another example that the freedoms that the people in Hong Kong once enjoyed are over:

Jimmy Lai, chairman of Next Digital, sits handcuffed in a vehicle as he is led away from his residence by law enforcement officials in Hong Kong on Aug. 10, 2020.

Right before China retook control of Hong Kong in 1997, tycoon Jimmy Lai started Apple Daily in part to promote democracy in the city. For 25 years, the newspaper survived advertising boycotts and political pressure but never backed off its tough coverage of the Chinese government and pro-Beijing lawmakers.

It might not last through the summer. Hong Kong police arrested Lai and several of his top executives on Monday and sent hundreds of officers to search the Apple Daily offices, a demonstration of the broad potential for the new national security law to silence criticism and dissent beyond pro-democracy protests and activism.

Passed in June, the legislation bars “crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces” as interpreted by the Chinese government and enforced by Beijing’s new security office in Hong Kong. Lai’s arrest wasn’t entirely unexpected, but it still shook the foundations of press freedom in the financial center and raised fears about what might come next.

His arrest under the security law was part of an investigation into an online activist group that received more than $129,000 (HK$1 million) funding from overseas bank accounts, the South China Morning Post reported Tuesday, citing unidentified people.

Agnes Chow, a prominent activist and founding member of the-now dissolved pro-democracy Demosisto party, also was arrested for on suspicion of breaching the security law, Cable TV reported Monday night.

Bloomberg

You can read more at the link, but if the CCP was smart they would just arrest these people for violating “libel laws” like the Moon administration in South Korea does. This sounds better than arresting people for violating national security laws. These arrests show they don’t care what international community thinks and just want to publicly show the people in Hong Kong that the way things were before are over.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

1 Comment
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
J6Junkie
J6Junkie
4 years ago

We see this here in the ROK. Journalists and defectors get arrested all the time.

1
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x