People-power surge as Hongkongers buy Jimmy Lai’s newspaper

Hongkongers rushed to buy the pro-democracy Apple Daily on Tuesday in a show of support for its arrested owner Jimmy Lai.

Police lead away Jimmy Lai on Monday. Picture: AFP

Hongkongers rushed to buy the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily on Tuesday in a show of support for its billionaire owner, Jimmy Lai, who was arrested the day before as police rounded up critics of China, with fears growing of more arrests to come.

The arrest of Mr Lai and a raid on Apple Daily’s offices in Hong Kong by 200 police was followed by the arrest of 23-year old Agnes Chow, one of the former leaders of the disbanded Demosisto group, and Wilson Li, a former activis­t who describes himself as a freelance journalist working for Britain’s ITV News.

Fears are growing for the situation in Hong Kong as police move quickly to detain critics under the tough security laws imposed­ on the city since June.

Apple Daily vowed to “fight on”, in a front-page story on Tuesday of its 71-year-old owner being led away in handcuffs, among 10 people arrested this week under the new security laws

In a show of solidarity for Mr Lai, people in the city rushed to buy his newspaper, with many lining up from 2am in the working-class district of Mon Kok. Some paid vendors in advance so others could get copies for free.

One restaurant owner bought 50 copies at a newsstand, saying he planned to give them away for free. “Since the government doesn’t allow Apple Daily to survive­, then we as Hong Hongkongers have to save it ourselves,” said the man, who gave his surname­ as Ng.

The newspaper increased its print run to 550,000 from its normal circulation of 100,000.

This week’s arrests follow an announcement by Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam that she would be postponing elections for the city’s Legislative Council, which were due on September 6, until next year because of COVID-19.

On Tuesday, Australia’s Foreign­ Minister Marise Payne re­iterated Canberra's concerns about the new security laws, which criminalise secession, subversion, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces, offences which can carry up to life in jail.

“We were concerned that the laws it included were very sweeping and not well defined and that they would undermine rights to freedom of expression in Hong Kong, including for members of the press,” Senator Payne told Sky News. “The arrest of Jimmy Lai has given weight to those concerns. A free and independent press is important for the people of Hong Kong. It is important for Hong Kong’s success as an international business hub and for the sustainment of the one country, two systems approach which has underpinned the society of Hong Kong and its development.’’

The Foreign Minister also said Australia had “serious reservations” about the postponement of the Legislative Council elections and the disqualification of 12 candidate­s who sought to stand.

With Hong Hongkongers too fearful to stage mass protests like last year’s, and with events in recent weeks showing even dissenting social media posts could be punished, some looked to other inventive ways to show solidarity.

Mr Lai was arrested on charges­ including colluding with foreign forces, as well as fraud, in an operation targeting his Next Digital publishing group.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who met with Mr Lai last year, described the media tycoon­’s arrest as “further proof” that Chinese authorities had “eviscerated Hong Kong’s freedoms and eroded the rights of its people”. “We’re going to respond in real ways,” Mr Pompeo told Newsmax.

The US had already imposed sanctions last week on a group of Chinese and Hong Kong officials — including Ms Lam — in response­ to the crackdown.

China condemned the sanctions as “barbarous” and imposed retaliatory sanctions on some senior US politicians and leading human rights campaigners.

Hong Kong’s police said those arrested were part of a group that had previously lobbied for foreign sanctions. “After the national securi­ty law came into force, this group was still active,” senior superintendent Li Kwai-wah said.

In Beijing, China’s Foreign Ministry hit out at Australia and other members of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing group for their joint statement earlier this week criticising the delay of the Legislative Council elections.

“China deplores and rejects the joint statement on Hong Kong by the foreign ministers of the Five Eyes,” spokesman Zhao Lijian said.

He criticised the statement as an “interference in China’s internal affairs and Hong Kong’s Legislative Council election”.

Additional reporting AFP