‘Repression by Beijing’ killed Hong Kong’s Apple Daily, Joe Biden says
- US president and lawmakers from both parties denounce the moves that forced the ‘much-needed bastion of independent journalism’ to close
- Biden also calls for release of detained journalists and media executives, saying their work is ‘not a crime’
“Intensifying repression by Beijing has reached such a level that Apple Daily, a much-needed bastion of independent journalism in Hong Kong, has now ceased publishing,” Biden said in a lengthy statement.
After a 26-year run, the stridently anti-Beijing Apple Daily printed its final edition on Thursday, after police raids on its offices and the seizure of assets by authorities. The crackdown on the paper stems from allegations it advocated for foreign sanctions in violation of Hong Kong’s National Security Law, which prohibits collusion with foreign powers.
“It is a sad day for media freedom in Hong Kong and around the world,” said Biden, joining a chorus of outrage from lawmakers and rights groups over the newspaper’s demise.
“Through arrests, threats and forcing through a National Security Law that penalises free speech, Beijing has insisted on wielding its power to suppress independent media and silence dissenting views,” said Biden, calling Beijing’s encroachment on Hong Kong’s autonomy a violation of its “international obligations”.
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Apple Daily editor-in-chief, 4 newspaper directors arrested under Hong Kong national security law
Biden’s comments follow a statement by the EU on Wednesday that Apple Daily’s closure “seriously undermines media freedom and pluralism, which are essential for any open and free society”, and that China made international commitments “to respect Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and rights and freedoms”.