A brutal attack on press freedom in Hong Kong
In a dawn raid, six people associated with the major Hong Kong independent non-profit media outlet Stand News were arrested for “conspiracy to publish seditious publication”. This morning’s arrests are a disaster for what remains of press freedom in Hong Kong.
The home of Ronson Long-sing Chan, deputy editor of Stand News and chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, was raided by national security police at 6 AM local time. Over 200 police officers were deployed during the operation.
The six arrested are
● Margaret Ng (73), co-founder of Stand News and a former legislator in Hong Kong who served in the Legislative Council for a period of 16 years, representing the city’s legal sector.
● Pui-kuen Chung (52), co-founder of Stand News, stepped down as editor-in-chief in November for family reasons. Chung’s wife, Pui-man Chan, a former associate publisher at Apple Daily, had been detained since June under NSL charge.
● Patrick Shiu-tung Lam (34), deputy chief of Stand News.
● Tat-chi Chow (63), co-founder of Stand News and former board member plus editor-in-chief of Stand News’s Science Section, resigned in June.
● Denise Ho (44), co-founder of Stand News, singer-activist in pro-democratic and LGBT issues, resigned as board member in June. In 2019, Denise gave a remarkable speech at Oslo Freedom Forum about her activism in Hong Kong. She holds a Canadian passport.
● Christine Meng-sang Fang (63), co-founder of Stand News, former head of a federation of non-government social agencies Hong Kong Council of Social Services.
This comes just days after Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai and other journalists -- who were already serving prison sentences -- were struck with new sedition charges.
The arrests mark a serious escalation of the attacks on what little is left of the rights and freedoms in Hong Kong that were guaranteed by Beijing through the Basic Law in 1997: The last remaining aspects of civil society separating Hong Kong from mainland China are now being removed at an alarming rate. The arrests follow the recent removal of the Pillar of Shame and other objects that served as a reminder of the Tiananmen massacre in Beijing on 4 June 1989.
To those member countries of the Media Freedom Coalition and those who support democratic values and press freedom, we urge you to respond to the arrests and take action.