Logo
Sound journalism, grounded in facts and Biblical truth | Donate

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy newspaper to close


A police cordon set up outside Apple Daily headquarters in Hong Kong on June 17, 2021. Associated Press/Photo by Kin Cheung

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy newspaper to close

After 26 years, Apple Daily will halt all Hong Kong operations at midnight Thursday after police arrested five editors and executives and froze $2.3 million in assets linked to the paper. Authorities allege the paper breached the national security law by colluding with foreign powers. The board of directors made the announcement Wednesday as it can no longer pay its 800 employees with its assets frozen.

What’s the significance of Apple Daily’s closure? Founded by pro-democracy activist and multimillionaire Jimmy Lai, Apple Daily is the only pro-democracy print newspaper in the city. It openly criticized Beijing and supported the democracy movement even as the Beijing-imposed national security law choked out Hong Kong’s freedoms. Authorities claim more than 30 articles from the paper called for foreign sanctions on Hong Kong and mainland China. Earlier Wednesday, Hong Kong police arrested Apple Daily’s top columnist, who writes under the pen name Li Ping, on suspicion of foreign collusion. The shutdown marks the end of Hong Kong’s freedom of the press.

Dig deeper: Read Erica Kwong’s report on the crackdown on Apple Daily.


Angela Lu Fulton

Angela is a former editor and senior reporter for WORLD Magazine. She is a graduate of the World Journalism Institute and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

@angela818


An actual newsletter worth subscribing to instead of just a collection of links. —Adam

Sign up to receive The Sift email newsletter each weekday morning for the latest headlines from WORLD’s breaking news team.
COMMENT BELOW

Please wait while we load the latest comments...

Comments