Hong Kong police charge journalists with sedition

Editors Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam were denied bail on Thursday and charged with conspiracy to publish seditious content through Stand News, one of Hong Kong’s last pro-democracy news outlets. Lam could not attend the court hearing because he was in the hospital for undisclosed reasons. The company laid off all staff and said it will close after 200 police officers raided its offices on Wednesday. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said the journalists were inciting people to rebel against the government under the guise of news reporting. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called on China to stop targeting the free press.

Who else was arrested? Officers arrested seven people total, including pop star Denise Ho, a Canadian citizen known for her pro-democracy and LGBTQ activism. Ho confirmed she was released on bail Thursday afternoon after international outrage over her arrest. Ho was a former board member for Stand News, along with former lawmaker Margaret Ng, who was also arrested. Police also took Chan Pui-man, a former editor at the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, and Chung’s wife. Citizen News, another independent online news site, said it would stop operations on Tuesday due to the Stand News crackdown and the “deteriorating media environment.”

Dig deeper: Read Erica Kwong’s report in WORLD Magazine on the government's ongoing press crackdown.