Defender of freedoms or defiler of national sovereignty? What exactly was Hong Kong’s Apple Daily?
- Critics loathed its sensationalist, pro-opposition and anti-China slant, its supporters loved its fearless reporting against those in power
- But after 26 years of bucking the system, the tabloid-style newspaper’s foes have had the final say
Is Apple Daily more than a newspaper?
Critics loathed its sensationalist, pro-opposition and anti-China slant. But loyal readers loved its fearless reporting against those in power, and advancing its own understanding of what democracy ought to look like – unfettered and unbound by Beijing.
Yet, there was a rare consensus among both sides: Apple Daily was much more than a newspaper. To its fans, it was a defender of freedoms. To its foes, it was the defiler of national sovereignty.
After 26 years of unrelentingly going after the local and central governments, the final body blow to the paper came last week when police arrested its editor-in-chief, publisher and three other executives for more than 30 reports allegedly calling for foreign sanctions, a violation of the national security law.
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Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says Apple Daily raid was not attack on press freedom