Stand News, Hong Kong’s biggest remaining pro-democracy news outlet, closed after becoming the target of a national security investigation, capping a year of historic strokes by Beijing to silence dissent in the Asian financial center.
Stand News announced Wednesday on Facebook that it would immediately lay off all staff and cease operations, and take down its website and social media accounts within days. The move came hours after more than 200 police raided the outlet’s newsroom, froze some HK$61 million ($7.8 million) of assets and arrested seven people connected to it on a colonial-era sedition law. Those arrested included acting Editor-in-Chief Patrick Lam and Denise Ho, a pop star who had testified about Hong Kong before the U.S. Congress.
Stand News had briefly been the largest Chinese-language media outlet publishing coverage critical of the Hong Kong government after Apple Daily’s closure in July under pressure from a similar probe. The site had braced for police scrutiny, announcing in June that it would purge opinion pieces from its site and stop accepting subscriptions and sponsorships.
The sudden fall of Stand News is the latest in a series of devastating blows to the former British colony’s once-vibrant opposition this year, including the arrests of scores of prominent activists and the election of new legislature vetted by Beijing. The campaign has remade Hong Kong as it prepares to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Chinese rule — halfway through Beijing’s promise to leave the city’s basic policies “unchanged for 50 years.”
Those arrested Wednesday were detained on a once-little-used sedition law dating back to 1938 that still refers to “Her Majesty” and “the Crown.” Hong Kong authorities have seized on the powerful law to prosecute opposition figures in addition to the four crimes outlined in the Beijing-drafted national security law imposed on the city in June 2020.
The government has previously denied that local media is under political pressure, saying it is “firmly committed to protecting and respecting the freedom of the press.” Chief Secretary John Lee, a former police official now promoted to be the city’s No. 2 post earlier this year, dismissed such concerns, telling reporters that those who used the media to pursue political goals were the “evil elements” damaging press freedom.
“Professional media workers should recognize that these are the bad apples who are abusing their position by wearing a false coat of media worker,” Lee said.
Others arrested Wednesday for conspiring to publish seditious materials included former Editor-in-Chief Chung Pui-kuen and former board members Margaret Ng, Chow Tat-chi and Christine Fang, according to the South China Morning Post. Ng was a prominent commentator and former lawmaker. The sedition offense carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a HK$5,000 fine.
The Communist Party’s Global Times newspaper published an article citing unnamed observers who hailed the arrest of Ho as “the best Christmas present.” The article said that those arrested had been working with the U.S. to destabilize Hong Kong.
The previous day, jailed Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, and six of his former staffers, were also charged with conspiracy to produce and distribute seditious publications. The 74-year-old former media mogul faces additional national security charges.
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Wednesday’s raid and called the arrests an assault on press freedom. “Authorities must release the six and drop all charges against them immediately, if Hong Kong is to retain any semblance of the freedoms that its residents enjoyed only a few years ago,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator.
The move prompted questions about how much further the government would go to rein in the press in one of Asia’s main media hubs. With the closure of Stand News, only a handful of independent outlets remain, including the English-language Hong Kong Free Press.
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The Chinese government oppresses its people with police state tactics and now tries to do the same with Hong Kong (and desperately wants to do the same with Taiwan) … It also detains about 1.5 million Uyghurs and others in internment camps (where they are subject to torture), imprisons journalists, puts gag orders on medical workers, sentences people to death for "separatism," and covered up the origins of Covid-19 (destroying records, hiding data, and lying about the Wuhan lab) … The "Great Firewall" tries its hardest to keep the Chinese people in the dark as beaten dogs 😃 But the truth always finds a way … Jinping "Winnie the Pooh" Xi will never get Taiwan 👍 The Chinese people need to rise up and destroy Xi's pathetic stranglehold … If he is that afraid/insecure that he'll go afraid outlets like Stand News, it's only a matter of time 🤣
sad💐
The US secretly hired Asian Karen U.S representatives for Hong Kong, China, Taiwan relations. Talking about Carrie lam's most hated Chinese Karen. Katherine Tai is a dangerous politician and workaholic Chinese. Trade business will not become free market for communist carrie lam. She will threaten her to pay the same way as the world. Tai's parents came from Taiwan born in mainland China; She favor the Democratic party was like Joshua Wong. She wants to sanction and dual technology ban Carrie Lam for using US technologies. Tai has no relationship with the communist party. Good luck with Asian Karen. Communist china shouldn't mess with Tai. She speaks mandarin way better than Carrie lam; She would threaten her to speak Mandarin than Cantonese and English.
No democracy, no more China products #dontbuychineseproducts any more!
I thought these kinds of situations called for the deployment of The Aussie Nuclear subs they purchased after telling France their battery subs weren’t getting it. Maybe they’re not up and running. Blockade the strait of Taiwan. They get 75% of their goods through there.
HKers abroad should be more united and to do more against this illegal HK commie government.
Carrie Lam and the entire mob are illegal, illegitimate government, they are also criminals and traitors of Hong Kong, will be sentenced for life once the illegal conqueror China Criminal Party is kicked OUT!
yknow mike, these corrupt and subversive chi com tactics are very similar to what our criminal clinton crew disgrace wanted and would have tried to leverage against the constitution and american democracy if they could.
China calls democracy an evil force! That's the language of a dictatorship!!
excellent NEWS from HK, good for Ho, her comrades and HK people. she now may plan more violence protest behind bar with Jimmy lai. cheers.
China Government should get banned by other countries and receive no outside support. Chinese Government is evil and practically as bad as North Korea.
Yesterday East Turkistan, today HongKong, tomorrow the world.
Best news ever. Send all these traitors to Guantanamo Bay type prison in China.
This is not the HK I used to grew up in . Ridiculous
Down with communist China
This is what MAGA Republicans want to do to MSNBC and CNN
That's not a pro-democracy news group. They spin fake news and agitations. They give pro-deomc groups a bad name. It is a good riddance.
FREE ASSANGE!!!
The first day a Super Walmart store opened up in China – the shelves – emptied within a few hours. (What a Christmas bonus for store managers ) – Now that Chinese people got a taste of poultry, pork, and beef at Walmart store fronts – know wonder we see a shortage in the US – Just think Walmart store fronts in China feeding the desire of billions of Chinese vs a million in the United States. … Call 🤙 it what it is China 💪 flexing in the free global market. … Wait until they start importing affordable $10,000 4 door luxury electric cars to compete with Tesla. … American streets filled with Chinese Car Dealerships – $10,000 electric car imports. … In a true free global marketplace who would want to throw a wrench into such Enterprise?
pro-democracy/pro-separation.
請用同樣播出的時間，同樣的標題，同樣的標準 報導台灣中天電視被關台！
If only they were just "pro-democracy" entities. The Hong Kong police have evidence of these guys taking money from foreign organizations, were given instructions to report fake news, brainwash the locals to hate their own kind, spread lies about the Hong Kong police (who did a fantastic job at riot control – no fatalities). If they didn't break the laws, they wouldn't have been taken down.