Flowing Apple Daily, the Stand News had been purged

Following the case of Apple Daily in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong government is once again cracking down on independent media, citing “national security.” The European Union, the United States and the United Nations Human Rights Office have all expressed condemnation or concern, and in particular directed their criticism at Beijing, calling on It to honor its commitment to “one country, two systems.”

Searching media offices, arresting journalists, launching investigations after freezing media assets, and shutting down media operations. One after another, Hong Kong’s few remaining independent media outlets are facing similar crackdowns, and by the end of 2021, what used to be freedom of speech in Hong Kong is fast disappearing.

“The press is not sedition,” U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken said in a written statement Friday night. The United States called on China and Hong Kong authorities to “cease targeting” Hong Kong’s independent and free media and “immediately release” journalists and media executives who have been unjustly detained and prosecuted.

Mr. Blinken added that by silencing independent media, the Chinese authorities and the Hong Kong government had damaged Hong Kong’s credibility and vitality, and that “a confident government can embrace a free media without fear of the truth.”

Hong Kong police arrested six executives and former executives of online media stand News early On December 28 under the Crimes Ordinance, including well-known democratic activists such as former director artists Denise Ho, Margaret Ng and Christine Fang.

The police said the Stand News had committed the offence of “conspiring to publish seditious publications” under the Crimes Ordinance.

The home of Chen Langsheng, deputy director of coverage for Position News and chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, was also searched early in the morning and was taken the night before an annual dinner held by the Hong Kong Journalists Association. He was released after questioning.

In the afternoon, Facebook announced that the site and all social media would cease updating immediately and be removed. The announcement also said stance news editor-in-chief Lin Shaotong had resigned and all staff were dismissed immediately.

Stan, a spokesman for the European Union’s (Peter Stano) on twitter, says the arrests mark a Hong Kong’s press freedom “worse”, the European Union, called for respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, is the basic law of Hong Kong and Beijing that year commitment at the core of the “one country, two systems” in Hong Kong, and freedom of the press is the key to defend the human rights and freedom.

The UN Human Rights office also said in a statement on its Twitter account that it was “appalled” by the continued crackdown on Hong Kong’s civil space and the arrest of journalists.

Ohchr also urged the Hong Kong SAR government and the Authorities in Beijing to ensure that the following proceedings fully respect the rights to freedom of information, including freedom of expression, and are handled in accordance with due process of law.

The search also highlights the deteriorating freedom and independence of the press in Hong Kong.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page, reporters Without Borders demanded that the Hong Kong government release all detained journalists.

Cedric Alviani, reporters Without Borders’ East Asia chief executive, said that Six months after the forced closure of Apple Daily, Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam is again using similar tactics to stamp out press freedom in Hong Kong, “demonstrating her determination to stamp out press freedom in Hong Kong.”

Zhu Herdsman, founder of a new Group based in the United States, Campaign for Hong Kong, criticized in a written statement what he called Beijing’s “death threat” to Hong Kong’s few remaining freedoms of expression and its most brutal enforcement.

Zhu also “strongly accused” the Hong Kong government of stifling freedom of the press and speech with the old British colonial-era law on “sedition”. He warned that foreign journalists in Hong Kong, in addition to the local media, could be the next target. “How long will foreign journalists be allowed to work in Hong Kong? When will China’s ‘Great Firewall’ cross the border into Hong Kong and also control the flow of information on the Internet in Hong Kong?” Zhu herdsman asked.

Hong Kong democratic committee (HKDC) executive director Liang Jiping also said in a written statement, the practice of Hong Kong and Beijing, again the outside world, the freedom of the press in the past, the Hong Kong’s important basis, already collapse, call the freedom of the press as a sedition, “this is made clear that Beijing would not tolerate space in Hong Kong are telling the truth.”

Section 9 and 10 of Hong Kong’s Crimes Ordinance, enacted under the British government, stipulate that those suspected of “conspiring to publish seditious publications” can be sentenced to two years and a fine of HK $2,000 to HK $5,000 on first conviction.

In a statement, the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association (HKJ) expressed deep concern over the arrests of media executives and searches of offices of media organisations where large amounts of material were stored, and urged the Government to safeguard press freedom in accordance with the Basic Law.

“The arrest of six people linked to Stance News amounts to an open attack on Hong Kong’s already frayed press freedom,” said Steven Butler, Asia program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, according to Reuters.

Peter Stano, the European Union’s chief spokesman for foreign and Security policy, said on Twitter that “the attack on Stance News and the arrest of 7 people mark a further deterioration of press freedom in Hong Kong. Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is at the heart of the Basic Law and the principle of ‘one country, two systems’. # Media freedom is key to these rights and freedoms.”