Hong Kong’s free-printing press is about to run out after two major independent websites remaining in China have announced the closure of one week.
Citizen News, an online newsletter launched in 2017, said it would shut down on Tuesday, citing security measures against its journalists. The idea, which cut short beyond the free and cruel press in Hong Kong, was announced after the announcement of democracy at Stand News closed last Wednesday.
Stand News was arrested by the police and several journalists and former supervisors were arrested for publishing “disruptive” material.
Chris Yeung, editor-in-chief of Citizen News, said the move to stop publishing was “initiated” by the arrest of Stand News. “Those who are seen as opponents or troublemakers, are at risk,” he said.
The editor-in-chief of Citizen News, Daisy Li, added that he “could not tell the truth” which would violate Beijing’s security law imposed on the city in 2020.
Lokman Tsui, a former assistant professor of journalism at China University of Hong Kong, says many of his students are now unemployed. “For the international city that Hong Kong wants to be, it’s a sad thing. At first we had the most powerful printing presses in Hong Kong, and it’s hard to say it’s free and powerful right now.
“This is part of a larger project. . . Elimination of Hong Kong’s independent printing press. [The government] has chased and pressed all hard surfaces to close. “
The national security law, introduced after the pro-democracy protests in 2019, caused a stir among civilians, more than 50 such groups were closed and protesters arrested.
This oppression has also taken a toll on local TV. Apple Daily, the city’s largest democratic newspaper, closed in June last year after 26 years. Its assets were stopped by the government and senior officials, including founder Jimmy Lai, were arrested.
Citizen News had about 40 journalists, many of whom had recently joined the company. The suspension has left the English-language Hong Kong Free Press and Chinese inmediahk.net as the last independent site in the city.
An unnamed former journalist Stand News asked: “Why is the city so bad that it even gets to the point where even the radio stations are not allowed to broadcast?”
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Lau Siu-kai, vice-chairman of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies in Beijing, stressed that “there is still room” to voice the government’s opposition. “I do not think the local media will be[monotonous]. . . after another place ‘played safe’ with [closed down]. ”
Keith Richburg, president of the city’s foreign media club, said there was a shortage of independent journalists in Hong Kong, and many doubted whether there was still room for coverage in the city. “The public and good government rely on critical journalists who question the facts,” he added.
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