Hong Kong Leader Defends Apple Daily Raid Amid Rising Global Condemnation
Pro-Beijing Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam hit back at the United States on June 22, accusing U.S. officials of trying to “beautify” actions that endangered national security. Lam was responding to U.S. criticism of the Hong Kong government’s actions against local pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily in her weekly press conference. On June 17, some 500 […]
Pro-Beijing Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam hit back at the United States on June 22, accusing U.S. officials of trying to “beautify” actions that endangered national security. Lam was responding to U.S. criticism of the Hong Kong government’s actions against local pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily in her weekly press conference. On June 17, some 500 Hong Kong police raided Apple Daily's headquarters and arrested five directors of the newspaper. Three of the directors were released on bail on June 18. Two others, Ryan Law, the paper’s editor-in-chief, and Cheung Kim-hung, chief executive officer of the paper’s publishing arm Next Digital, appeared in court on June 19 but were denied bail. Law and Cheung are charged with “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security,” a crime under the city’s draconian national security law. Hong Kong authorities also froze about HK$18 million ($2.32 million) from three ...
