Hong Kong pro-democracy Apple Daily may shut down this week

The looming demise of Apple follows the imposition of a national security law on the former British colony last year in response to mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Western democracies including the United States say Beijing has used the law to stifle freedoms and impose greater control over the semi-autonomous trade entrepot and financial centre.

Police have claimed dozens of Apple Daily articles violated the new security law – the first instance of authorities targeting media articles under the contentious legislation.

Choked ‘to death’

But another senior company source with direct knowledge of the matter said the freezing of the firm’s core assets – before any trial or due legal process proved any criminality – had made it impossible to pay wages or even electricity bills.

“This is an extraordinary thing for a place that prides itself on (being) a global financial centre, that you haven’t even filed charges against people and yet you’ve decided you’re going to try to … choke this company to death.”

“It’s surreal. You know the intensity with which the Chinese Communist Party works. It’s a testament to the depths to which they will sink to destroy private companies, without even the fiction of a conviction.”

Editor-in-Chief Ryan Law and Chief Executive Officer Cheung Kim-hung were charged with collusion with a foreign country and denied bail on Saturday. Three other senior executives were also arrested on Thursday and released pending further investigation.

The company said in the memo the board had sent a letter to Hong Kong’s Security Bureau to ask that some assets be unfrozen in order for it to avoid violating labour laws by failing to pay staff. The company asked the Security Bureau to reply by Friday.

‘Serious crime’

The Security Bureau said on Monday it would not comment given ongoing legal proceedings and any application related to the frozen property would be handled according to the law.

“Endangering national security is a very serious crime,” it said in a statement to Reuters, without giving specifics.

China’s Liaison Office in the city did not respond to requests for comment.

The arrests and scale of the Apple Daily raid have been criticised by Western countries, global rights groups, press associations and the chief UN spokesperson for human rights.

Security Secretary John Lee said last Thursday the police operation against the Apple Daily was aimed at those who use reporting as a tool to endanger national security and did not target the media industry as a whole.

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China’s Foreign Commissioner’s Office said last week that press freedom cannot be used as a “shield” for those who commit crimes.

Next Digital has come under increasing pressure since Lai was arrested last year under the legislation. Lai, whose assets have also been frozen under the security law, is in jail for taking part in unauthorised assemblies.

“We hope that even though this platform will no longer be around that Hong Kong journalists will continue to hold ground and pursue the truth,” said Ingrid Tse, the host of an Apple Daily nightly news broadcast who signed off for good on Monday.