Media mogul Jimmy Lai currently faces multiple charges of collusion with a foreign country and seditious publications under China’s National Security Law. His publication, Apple Daily, was raided by police and shuttered just months before the Stand News was also shut down. Photo by Jerome Favre/EPA-EFE
The U.S. State Department released a statement Friday condemning China’s National Security Law on the anniversary of the police raid on the Stand News in Hong Kong.
The statement, signed by member countries of the Media Freedom Coalition, highlighted Hong Kong authorities’ prolonged prosecutions of media outlets like the Stand News and Apple Daily. Advertisement
According to the statement, those events “come against the backdrop of loss of editorial independence, the barring of journalists seeking to cover government press briefings and the removal of material from public broadcasting archives.”
The statement went on to say curtailing free expression of alternative views weakens vital checks and balances on executive power.
The U.S. and Great Britain earlier in December called for the release of Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, who faces trial in Hong Kong on three counts of collusion with a foreign country and one count of seditious publications for content that appeared in his newspaper. If convicted, he could face a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Lai was arrested in August of 2020 on accusations of violating the then-newly imposed NSL. His publication, Apple Daily, was shuttered in June 2021, just days after it was raided by police. Advertisement
In December of the same year, the Stand News came to a sudden end as well, with national security forces arresting seven former directors, columnists and editors of the outlet. Both outlets were open pro-democracy activists, which made them prime targets under the NSL.
China’s NSL imposes stiff penalties for violation of broadly defined acts of sedition, terrorism and collusion with foreign agencies. Many pro-democracy activists and politicians have had to flee overseas for fear of persecution as a result. Hong Kong authorities have since issued bounties and arrest warrants for 13 self-exiled, pro-democracy activists.
Early in December, pro-democracy advocacy group Freedom House presented to U.S. lawmakers a report that China was among 26 nations targeting journalists abroad with “transnational repression” between 2014 and 2023.
A bipartisan group of senators in March introduced the Transnational Repression Policy Act. Transnational repression refers to when governments use methods such as violence and threats to silence dissenters living abroad. Proponents of the act said it could make it easier for the U.S. government to hold perpetrators accountable.
Freedom House President Michael Abramowitz has said further legislation is needed to address violence against political dissenters, recommending “special visas, such as humanitarian visas or visas for human rights defenders (and) activists journalists, to help them receive legal status,” at the time of his report. Advertisement
