Soy sauce attack on Apple Daily

Groups of knife-wielding men poured soy sauce yesterday over copies of two Chinese-language newspapers, including the pro-democracy Apple Daily, in three simultaneous early-morning attacks.

Journalists' unions condemned the case, which follows a blockade of Apple's headquarters by opponents of the Occupy Central campaign, as a "blatant attack on press freedom" and demanded police action.

But Apple's editor-in-chief said it was not clear if the paper had been targeted specifically.

At about 2.30am, masked men in groups of four and five approached delivery staff in Central, Hung Hom and Cheung Sha Wan. Threatening the staff with knives, they poured sauce on stacks of newspapers, hitting 15,200 copies of Apple and more than 20,000 copies of Headline Daily, a free sheet owned by rival firm Sing Tao Corporation.

Police are treating the case as criminal damage and intimidation, and are seeking 14 suspects.

Apple said it sold 210,000 copies yesterday despite the attack. Its audited average circulation for the first half of this year was 190,000. Chief editor Cheung Kim-hung said staff had reported the case to police, but added: "At this moment, we do not know if this is targeting Apple Daily."