Hong Kong National Security Police Shuts Down Another Independent Media Outlet For 'Seditious' Content, Arrests 7 Including Editor

More than 200 national security police in Hong Kong today (Dec 29) raided the offices of online publication Stand News and arrested seven people including the current and former chief editors for publishing 'seditious' material. They included former acting chief editor Patrick Lam, former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen, along with Chow Tat-chi, former director and ex-chief editor of the science section, and former directors Margaret Ng, Denise Ho and Christine Fang.

The cops have shut down the plication besides also freezing HK$61 million (US$7.8 million) of its assets belonging to the outlet.

Police charged Stand News with publishing a large number of articles over the past 16 months that had stirred up hatred or contempt for the government and judiciary.

Stand News said in a statement that its website and social media are no longer being updated and will be taken down. It said all employees have been dismissed.

Stand News is one of the few remaining pro-democracy publications in the city.

All those arrested have been charged with conspiracy to print or distribute seditious materials, police said, an offence punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine of HK$5,000 (US$641) under the Crimes Ordinance.

Apple Daily, a hugely influential pro-democracy newspaper founded by Jimmy Lai, was shutdown this June after facing relentless hounding and content censorship. In the months leading to its shut down, the paper frequently faced the ire of Beijing- backed government.

Lai, a vocal critic of Chinese communist party, was first arrested August 2020 under the provisions of city’s draconian national security law that was imposed by Chinese government in June 2020. Lai faces charges of 'colluding' with a foreign country in a bid to endanger national security, uttering seditious words and conspiring to defraud.

Lai often described the city’s new national security law as a death knell for freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kongers since the city was returned to China in 1997.

In June this year, the city police detained the paper’s lead editorial writer for allegedly colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security.

On Jun 23, the board of Next Digital Ltd, which owns Apple Daily, announced that the pro-democracy publication would cease publishing. The final decision to shutter the paper was made after Hong Kong authorities do blocked access to the company’s bank accounts following the arrests of senior editors and executives.