Hong Kong police arrest media tycoon Jimmy Lai under national security law

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, a prominent democracy activist in the semi-autonomous region, has been arrested under the draconian national security law. Hong Kong police stormed the offices of Lai’s Apple Daily newspaper and arrested the media tycoon over suspected collusion with foreign forces.

The 71-year-old entrepreneur has been a vocal critic of the authoritarian Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime and has been one of the main contributors to the pro-democracy camp. Lai has often termed the CCP rule as “murderous regime” and recently echoed prominent activist Joshua Wong call to Hong Kong officials and their family members to sell off their overseas properties and renounce foreign nationalities to show absolute loyalty to Xi Jinping.

The arrest of Lai doesn’t come as a shock to Hong Kong’s relatively independent media since several media houses have started self-censorship to avoid charges under the new law. Steven Butler, Committee to Protect Journalists’ Asia program coordinator, said in a statement that the arrest of the media tycoon bears out the worst fears that Hong Kong’s security law would be used to suppress critical pro-democracy opinion and restrict press freedom.

“Jimmy Lai should be released at once and any charges dropped,” added Butler.

Read: Hong Kong Says It Will Support China's Retaliatory Measures Against US Sanctions

Demosisto leader Joshua Wong strongly condemned the arrest of Lai, calling it the end of press freedom and the darkest day for journalists. Lai was also arrested in February and in April on charges of participating in an illegal assembly.

Read: China Slams US Sanctions Against Hong Kong Officials, Calls Them 'barbarous And Rude'

US sanctions Hong Kong officials

The national security law has drawn widespread condemnation from democratic countries, especially the United States. The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on 11 individuals, including Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam and Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) Commissioner Chris Tang.

The department said that Lam is directly responsible for implementing Beijing’s policies of “suppression of freedom and democratic processes”. It accused Lam of pushing for an update to Hong Kong’s extradition arrangements to allow for extradition to the mainland, which triggered massive protests in the city.

Read: China To Suspend Hong Kong’s Extradition Agreement With New Zealand

Read: Hong Kong Govt's 'disproportionate' Postponement Of Polls Condemned By Five Eyes Alliance

(Image: Twitter / @samuelmchu)