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US urges Hong Kong to release Stand News | Hong Kong Exhibition News

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken says banning independent media undermines Hong Kong’s “credibility and viability” as a global economy.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called on Chinese and Hong Kong officials to release co-workers Stand News pro-democracy publication who were arrested after a police raid.

“We call on the PRC and Hong Kong authorities to stop looking at free and independent journalists in Hong Kong and to release journalists and journalists who have been unjustly imprisoned,” Blinken said in a statement on the People’s Republic of China.

“By banning independent media, the PRC and government officials are undermining Hong Kong’s credibility and credibility,” he added.

“A strong government that does not fear the truth receives the freedom of the press. Journalism is not a rebellion against the government. ”

In response, Hong Kong President Carrie Lam said Thursday that the attacks and arrests did not affect the media industry.

Lam said the government’s demand for the release of the detainees was against the law.

Seven current and former editors of Stand News, board members and a journalist were arrested Wednesday on charges of publishing anti-government publications.

Among those arrested were editor-in-chief Patrick Lam, as well as former board members, including popular singer and activist Denise Ho and former lawmaker Margaret Ng.

The seven were arrested on terrorism charges set up in Hong Kong as Britain prior to 1997, when they were extradited to China. Those found guilty could face up to two years in prison and a $ 5,000 fine ($ 640) in Hong Kong.

Stand News, founded in 2014 as a non-profit organization, was the most well-known book on democracy in Hong Kong after this year’s national security survey. The imprisonment of Jimmy Lai’s Apple Daily tabloid who was in prison.

‘A general uprising against the freedom of the press’

The attack on Stand News raises serious concerns about the freedom of the press in the former British colony, which returned to China in 1997 and promises that its rights, including that of free journalists, will be protected.

Following the seizure of its $ 61 million Hong Kong ($ 7.8m) worth of stock assets on Wednesday, Stand News announced it was shutting down its publication.

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly also condemned the imprisonment of journalists in Hong Kong, among them Denise Ho, who was born in Hong Kong but grew up in Canada.

“We are deeply concerned about the Hong Kong arrests of existing and former board members and staff at Stand News, including Canadian citizen and freedom fighter Denise Ho,” Joly said.

The US has already done so imposed sanctions on Hong Kong officials and reduce a separate section of the region in accordance with US law after Beijing went ahead and enacted a law banning security.

The Hong Kong Press Council has called on the city government to protect the rights of journalists under Hong Kong’s by-law, Basic Law.

“The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) is deeply concerned that the police have repeatedly arrested senior journalists and investigated them in the offices of media organizations that have a large number of journalistic publications within a year,” it said.

Benedict Rogers, co-founder and head of the non-Hong Kong Watch organization, said the arrests were “not a simple matter of violating the rights of journalists in Hong Kong.”

“The free press warranty guaranteed by the Basic Laws in Hong Kong is labeled ‘disruptive’, and is a sign of the speed with which the city, formerly open, has descended into a state of police,” he said.

Wednesday’s arrest followed removal of sculptures and other artwork from university schools last week.

These activities contributed to democracy and commemorated those who suffered at the hands of Chinese protesters on Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989.



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