Hong Kong: China-critical »Daily« Apple responds to police raid by increasing circulation

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Sale of the massively increased Friday edition of the Daily Apple in Hong Kong

Photo: JEROME FAVRE / EPA

A controversial security law in Hong Kong allows the Chinese leadership to take extensive action against democratic activities under the pretext of counter-terrorism - and also against the media.

On Thursday officials carried out a raid on the pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily.

Now the newspaper is reacting to the repression with an enormous increase in circulation: on Friday, instead of the usual 80,000 copies, 500,000 copies are at the kiosks in Hong Kong.

The paper assumes strong demand from readers.

A similarly high circulation was printed after the arrest of the publisher Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy activist and staunch Beijing critic, last August.

On the front page of Friday's edition, the newspaper reported on the raid, stating that the police had confiscated 44 hard drives as evidence.

500 police officers against an editorial office

Around 500 Hong Kong police officers carried out the raid on suspected security law violations. Five newspaper executives were arrested, including the editor-in-chief. Police officers also searched journalists' computers and inspected their phones. It was the first time that the police took action against a medium on the basis of the security law. The police seized the equivalent of almost two million euros in assets from three companies that are connected to "Apple Daily".

There were months of mass protests in Hong Kong in 2019 against Beijing's growing influence. In response, the Chinese leadership passed the controversial law last year. It allows the authorities in Hong Kong to crack down on all activities that they believe threaten China's national security - the law gives them enough leeway to crack down on any initiatives that are critical of the government. Anyone convicted on the basis of the law can be sentenced to life imprisonment.

The law is considered to be the most massive break in the autonomy of the former British crown colony, which it was promised for at least 50 years when it was handed over to China in 1997 on the principle of "one country - two systems".

Western states accuse China of undermining civil rights in Hong Kong and wanting to silence the democracy movement.

mrc / Reuters