Hong Kong authorities yesterday broadened their enforcement of a new National Security Law, arresting tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英), searching the headquarters of his Next Digital (壹傳媒) group and carting away boxes of what they said was evidence.
The police action marked the first time the law was used against news media, stoking fears that authorities are suppressing press freedom.
Next Digital operates the Chinese-language Apple Daily, which last year frequently urged readers to take part in the anti-government protests.
Photo: AFP
Hong Kong police arrested Lai, 71, yesterday morning, an aide to the businessman said, in the highest-profile detention under the new law since it took effect on June 30.
Mark Simon, a Next Digital executive and Lai’s aide, said Lai was charged with collusion with foreign powers.
He said police searched the homes of Lai and two of his sons and detained four other members of the media company.
Photo: Reuters
Hong Kong police said they arrested at nine men and one woman between the ages of 23 and 72 on suspicion of violating the new security legislation, with offenses including collusion with a foreign country and conspiracy to defraud.
They did not release the names of those arrested or provide further details of the charges.
However, the pro-democracy Stand News Web site reported that Lai’s eldest son, Lai Kin-yan (黎見恩), was wanted for conspiracy to defraud, while his second son, Lai Yiu-yan (黎耀恩), was wanted for colluding with foreign countries or foreign forces to endanger national security.
Photo: Reuters
Following Jimmy Lai’s arrest, about 200 police raided Next Digital’s headquarters, cordoning off the area, searching desks and at times getting into heated exchanges with staff.
What police were looking for in the building was not clear, although they later said they took away 25 boxes of evidence for processing.
Jimmy Lai, who was arrested at his mansion in Kowloon, was also brought to Next Digital’s headquarters, where he remained for about two-and-a-half hours before police took him away in a car.
“We are completely shocked by what’s happening now, with the arrest and followed by the ongoing raid inside the headquarters of Next Digital,” Hong Kong Journalists Association chairman Chris Yeung (楊健興) said.
“With the passage of the National Security Law and the really tough powers given to the police in their operations, we have seen now what we call ‘white terror’ become a reality, which will affect media organizations and journalists’ reporting,” Yeung said.
Police unblocked Next Digital’s offices at mid-afternoon, with police Senior Superintendent Steve Li Kwai-wah (李桂華) saying that staff were free to resume their work.
The share price of Next Digital soared more than 200 percent in the afternoon, following posts on a popular online forum encouraging investors to support the company by buying its stock.
Additional reporting by staff writer
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
RSS