In Hong Kong, the next independent newsroom has to close. Several journalists were arrested during a raid on alleged “conspiracy charges”. A black day for freedom of the press in the Chinese Special Administrative Region.
Wednesday morning in Hong Kong. More than 200 police officers storm the editors of the independent news site “Stand News” and search the apartments of several editors. One shows officials appearing at an editor’s door and holding a search warrant in front of him for “conspiracy to publish a seditious publication”. Six current and former employees are taken into custody – including editor-in-chief Patrick Lam, his predecessor Chung Pui-kuen and lawyer and former MP Margaret Ng. The pop singer Denise Ho, who like Ng once sat on the board of “Stand News”, was also arrested, according to her.
A police statement said the search warrant authorized the task force to “search and seize relevant journalistic material”. A video from the crime scene shows the officers carrying rows of boxes out of the building.
A few hours later, “Stand News” reports via that the pro-democratic news medium will no longer appear. Editor-in-chief Lam has resigned and all employees have been laid off, the post said. The website and social media pages would no longer be updated and would soon be completely deleted.
Hong Kong: Authorities crack down on critics of China
The abrupt end of “Stand News” is just the latest in a series of attacks on freedom of expression and the press in China’s Special Administrative Region. It wasn’t until June that the pro-democracy Apple Daily had to shut down after its assets were frozen and its executives arrested – the stern . The 74-year-old owner and democracy activist Jimmy Lai is now in jail.
Since the mass protests in 2019, the Hong Kong authorities have been cracking down on critical voices. At the time, activists took to the streets for months and protested against Beijing’s growing influence. At the same time, the news medium “Stand News”, founded in 2014, also gained international fame. The live recordings of a brutal attack by masked thugs on pro-democracy protesters in a subway station, filmed by reporters, went around the world.
With the controversial security law that came into force in July 2020, Beijing’s power has increased even further. The vague wording of the wording of the law allows the authorities to take radical action against any activities that they believe threaten the national security of China. More than 100 activists have been arrested, sentenced or awaiting trial under the law. Many opposition members and media workers have fled abroad for fear of prosecution.
“Stand News” has long been a thorn in the side of the authorities
After the forced closure of “Apple Daily”, “Stand News” moved more and more into the sights of the Hong Kong authorities. To avoid prosecution, six senior officials resigned in June. In addition, all opinion articles and columns have been taken off the Internet in order to protect the authors. In November, “Stand News” was named “Independence” by Reporters Without Borders for continuing to work despite reprisals.
The authorities have increased the pressure in recent weeks. In early December, security chief Chris Tang accused the news outlet of reporting “biased, slanderous and demonizing” about the city’s new prison system.
“Stand News” had already attracted attention through its work on the so-called Pandora Papers. As the only medium in Hong Kong, the editorial team worked with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to uncover the hidden wealth and tax structures of some of the richest and most powerful people in the world.
End of “Stand News” causes consternation
The end of “Stand News” caused dismayed reactions around the world. The (HKJA) described the raid as an “open attack on the already shattered freedom of the press in Hong Kong”. The Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Association (FCC) also spoke of. “Outrageous. After the fall of the Apple Daily, StandNewsHK is the largest pro-democracy medium in HK protecting our freedom of the press,” exiled democracy activist Sunny Cheung. “It is obvious that Beijing is not giving up the political cleansing. Beijing is dissolving any space of opposition.”
The editors of the news medium thanked the readers for their loyalty on Wednesday. “Stand News” was set up to “take a stand in Hong Kong,” said the statement on Facebook. It has always remained “editorially independent” and has “committed itself to protecting the fundamental values of Hong Kong such as democracy, human rights, freedom, the rule of law and justice”.
Those basic values that are increasingly under pressure under the controversial security law. As early as July, the HKJA warned that press freedom in Hong Kong had reached a new all-time low. The independent media in the Chinese Special Administrative Region can now be counted on one hand. In addition, a recent poll by the FCC shows that almost half of 100 reporters surveyed are considering leaving journalism.
The end of “Stand News” is another nail on the coffin of the free press in Hong Kong.
Sources: “”, “”, with AFP material
Source From: Stern
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