Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:
Apple Daily to close, last pro-democracy Hong Kong
newspaper
Zen Soo And Matthew Cheng, the Associated Press
Wed., June 23, 2021, 5:03 a.m.
The board of directors of Apple Daily parent company Next Media said in a statement Wednesday that the print and online editions will cease due to “the current circumstances prevailing in Hong Kong.”
The silencing of a prominent pro-democracy voice is the latest sign of China's determination to exert greater control over the city long known for its freedoms after huge antigovernment protests there in 2019 shook the government. Since then, Beijing has imposed a strict national security law — used in the arrests of the newspaper employees — and revamped Hong Kong's election laws to keep opposition voices out of the legislature.
Apple Daily was founded by tycoon Jimmy Lai in 1995 — just two years before Britain handed Hong Kong back to China — and initially was a tabloid known for its celebrity gossip. But Lai had also always portrayed the paper as an advocate of Western values and said it should “shine a light on snakes, insects, mice and ants in the dark," according to the paper.
It grew into an outspoken voice for defending Hong Kong’s freedoms not found on mainland China, and in recent years has often criticized the Chinese and Hong Kong governments for limiting those freedoms and reneging on a promise to protect them for 50 years after the city's handover to China. While pro-democracy media outlets still exist online, it is the only print newspaper left of its kind in the city.
In a post on Instagram, the paper thanked its readers.
“Even if the ending is not what we want, even if it’s difficult to let go, we need to continue living and keep the determination we have shared with Hong Kong people that has remained unchanged over 26 years,” Apple Daily wrote.
The widely expected move to close Apple Daily followed last week’s arrests and crucially the freezing of $2.3 million of the paper’s assets. Its board of directors wrote a few days ago to ask Hong Kong’s security bureau to release some of its funds so the company could pay wages — but it’s not clear if it got a response. The paper also said it made the decision to close out of concern for its employees’ safety.
The editors and executives were detained on suspicion of colluding with foreigners to endanger national security. Police cited more than 30 articles published by the paper as evidence of an alleged conspiracy to encourage foreign nations to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and China. It was the first time the national security law had been used against journalists for something they had published.
On Wednesday, police also arrested a 55-year-old man on suspicion of foreign collusion to endanger national security, according to Apple Daily, which cited unidentified sources. The paper said the man writes editorials for it under the pseudonym Li Ping.
Apple Daily has in recent years come under increasing scrutiny over its pro-democracy stance. Lai, its founder, is facing charges under the national security law for foreign collusion and is currently serving a prison sentence for his involvement in the 2019 protests.
The move against Apple Daily drew criticism from the U.S., the EU and Britain.
“The forced closure of (Apple Daily) by Hong Kong authorities is a chilling demonstration of their campaign to silence all opposition voices,” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a Twitter post. “It is clearer than ever that the (national security law) is being used to curtail freedom and punish dissent.”
The national security law imposed last year criminalizes subversion, secession, terrorism and foreign collusion. Chinese and Hong Kong officials have said the media must abide by the law, and that press freedom cannot be used as a “shield” for illegal activities.
The first person to stand trial under the law, Tong Ying-kit, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of terrorism and inciting secession by driving a motorcycle into police officers during a 2019 rally while carrying a flag with the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times.” Several officers were knocked over and three were injured.
That slogan was often chanted during the 2019 demonstrations, which began as protests against a bill allowing Hong Kong residents to be extradited to China for trial but burgeoned into broader calls for greater democratic freedoms. China was shaken by the breadth of the protests and responded with tough measures including the national security law, which makes calls for Hong Kong's independence illegal.
Tong's trial will set the tone for how Hong Kong handles national security offenses. So far, more than 100 people have been arrested under the law, with many others fleeing abroad. The result is that it has virtually silenced opposition voices in the city.
A court ruled last month that Tong will stand trial without a jury, a departure from Hong Kong's common law traditions. Under the national security law, a panel of three judges can replace jurors, and the city’s leader has the power to designate judges to hear such cases.
Translation
2021 年 6 月 23 日，星期三，上午 5:03
香港（美聯社）—— 香港僅存的民主報紙將於週四出版最後一期，在五名編輯和高管被捕及凍結數百萬美元的資產後被迫關閉，這是中國對這半自治城市不同政見者加強鎮壓的一部分。
蘋果日報母公司 Next Media 董事會周三在一份聲明中表示，由於“香港當前的情況”，印刷版和網絡版將停止發行。
在 2019 年大規模的反政府抗議動震動政府之後，中國決心對這座長期以自由而聞名的城市施加更大的控制權，使支援民主聲音噤聲是最新的徵兆,
表明中國決心加強控制。從那時起，北京實施了一項嚴格的國家安全法
- 用於逮捕報社員工 - 並修改了香港的選舉法，以阻止反對派的聲音進入立法機關。
蘋果日報由大亨黎智英於 1995 年創立 - 距離英國將香港交還給中國僅兩年時間 - 最初是一家以名人八卦而聞名的小報。但黎智英也一直將這份報紙描繪成西方價值觀的倡導者，據稱該報表示它應該“照亮黑暗中的蛇、昆蟲、老鼠和螞蟻”。
它發展成為捍衛香港自由而不諱言地發聲的一把聲音,
這自由在中國大陸是沒有的。它近年來經常批評中國和香港政府限制這些自由,
並違背承諾在香港移交給中國後保護這些自由50
年。雖然支持民主媒體仍然存在於網上，但它是該市僅存的這類印刷報紙。
在 Instagram 上的一篇帖子中，該報感謝了它的讀者。
蘋果日報寫道：“即使結局不是我們想要的，即使很難放手，我們需要繼續生活，保持我們與香港人26年來不變的決心。”
該報的宣布恰逢該市根據實施了一年之久的國家安全法開始第一次審判，該法正被密切關注，以作為衡量法院將如何嚴格地闡釋該立法的晴雨表。
在上週該報受到進行逮捕和凍結
230 萬美元資產的舉動之後,人們接着普遍預期蘋果日報關閉。其董事會幾天前寫信要求香港保安局釋放部分資金，以便公司支付工資
— 但不清楚是否得到回應。該報還表示，出於對員工安全的擔憂，它決定關閉。
編輯和高管因涉嫌勾結外國人危害國家安全被拘留。警方援引該報發表的 30 多篇文章作為涉嫌串謀鼓勵外國對香港和中國大陸實施制裁的證據。這是國家安全法第一次因記者發表的內容而被用來對付他們。
據《蘋果日報》援引身份不明的消息來源稱，週三，警方還逮捕了一名
55 歲的男子，他涉嫌與外國勾結危害國家安全。該報稱，該男子化名李平為其日報撰寫社論。
近年來，《蘋果日報》因其支持民主的立場而受到越來越多的查核。其創始人黎智英因國家安全法而面臨外與國勾結的指控。目前他因參與 2019 年的抗議活動正在服刑。
針對蘋果日報的舉動引起了美國、歐盟和英國的批評。
英國外交大臣Dominic Raab在推特上說：“香港當局強行關閉（蘋果日報）是他們壓制所有反對聲音的運動使人不寒而慄的示範。” “現在比以往任何時候都更清楚的是，（國家安全法）被用來限制自由和懲罰異見人士。”
去年實施的國家安全法將顛覆、分裂國家、恐怖主義和外國勾結定為刑事犯罪。中國和香港官員都表示，媒體必須遵守法律，不能將新聞自由作為非法活動的“保護盾”。
第一個依法受審的唐英傑週三對恐怖主義和煽動分裂國家的指控表示不認罪。他在 2019 年的一次集會上駕駛摩托車衝撞警察，同時舉著帶有標語的旗幟, 寫了“解放香港，時代革命” 。幾名警察被撞倒，三人受傷。
這一口號在 2019 年的示威活動中經常被高呼，示威活動最初是抗議一項允許香港居民被引渡到中國受審的法案，但後來迅速發展為更廣泛的呼籲更大的民主自由。中國對抗議活動的廣度感到震驚，並採取了強硬措施作為回應，包括國家安全法，該法將要求香港獨立的呼籲列為非法。
唐英傑的審判將為香港如何處理國家安全罪行定下基調。 到目前為止，已有100多人依法被捕，還有許多人逃往國外。 結果是它實際上壓制了該市反對派的聲音。
法院上個月裁定，唐英傑將在沒有陪審團的情況下接受審判，這與香港的普通法傳統背道而馳。 根據國家安全法，由三名法官組成的小組可以替代陪審員，香港領導有權指定法官審理此類案件。
法律對嚴重犯罪最高可判處無期徒刑。 唐英傑在高等法院受審，刑期沒有上限。
So, Hong
Kong’s most vocal pro-democracy newspaper is forced to shut down after five
editors and executives were arrested and millions of dollars in assets were
frozen. This is part of China's increasing crackdown on dissent in the former
British colony. It is clear that the National Security Law is a tool used to
curtail press freedom and punish the dissents. Hong Kong will soon have the first
batch of political prisoners arrested
under the newly passed National Security Law.
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