Stand News, one of the last independent publications in Hong Kong, was shut down after security officials raided its offices. Several people were arrested.
Summary
One of the final bastions of free and independent press in Hong Kong has been raided by Chinese security police.
- Stand News, a pro-democracy news publication in Hong Kong was shut down by Communist Chinese authorities.
- Stand News was raided by security officials and six people associated with the publication were arrested and charged with “conspiracy to publish a seditious publication.”
- The Committee to Protect Journalists protested the arrests, calling the Communist Chinese government’s actions “an open assault on Hong Kong’s already tattered press freedom.”
- The shuttering of Stand News follows the closure of Apple Daily in June after its leader Jimmy Lai was arrested by Chinese authorities.
- The continued assault on freedom comes just days after Communist China removed the last statues commemorating the Tiananmen Square massacre from Hong Kong.
- CNN ran a video report on the raid on Stand News and the associated arrests, emphasizing “concerns about diminishing press freedoms” in Hong Kong.
- CNBC highlighted the challenges Stand News was facing before it was shut down, reporting its decision earlier this year to stop accepting donations and to limit its editorial publication “to protect supporters, authors and editorial staff” and in protest of “speech crimes” the Communist government was imposing.
- The Washington Post noted the tactics are similar to how the Communist Party shut down Apple Daily and “are moving to snuff out any remaining critical voices in the territory.”
- Few outlets on the right covered the raid, arrests, and shutdown of Stand News.
- The Epoch Times called the law used to arrest those involved in the outlet “draconian” while noting a pop singer who is also a former board member of Stand News was among those arrested.
- The Wall Street Journal detailed the spokesperson for the National Security Department’s comments and charges against Stand News, pointing out examples the government objected to.
Author’s Take
This should be a much bigger story. Pro-democracy citizens of Hong Kong are being abandoned, and it’s not difficult to see how Beijing could see this is an indicator for Western sentiment in the event of conflict over the independent nation of Taiwan.
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© Dallas Gerber, 2021
