Hong Kong-based newspaper; Apple Daily’s chief editor and administrators were arrested according to international news reports.

Apple daily is a bestselling and popular newspaper in Hong Kong.

Immediately after the news broke about the arrest by the Chinese authorities, the daily readership of the newspaper increased five-fold. This shows the support towards Apply Daily by the people of Hong Kong and their undying support for democracy and freedom.

The Hong Kong police raided the premises of apple daily and arrested a total of five personnel including editors and administrators. Assets worth US$ 2.3 million were frozen. Furthermore, a huge number of the newspaper’s hard disks were confiscated.

The growing imposition of Hong Kong’snational security law by the Chinese government can be seen in this turn of events.

With a diminishing presence of pro-democracy rallies in Hong Kong, many pro-democratic leaders and activists were arrested by the Chinese government. Some activists have also fled the country.

A Hong Kong resident spoke to the press about the occurrence of many unfair instances within Hong Kong. He stressed his unwillingness against such actions and affirmed that buying a newspaper is the least he can do. He further mentioned that if the law cannot protect the people, then one needs to protect oneself.

Apple Daily was founded by businessman Jimmy Lai in 1995. It was founded under the fear of threat against democracy and freedom while Hong Kong was going through a transition from the British to China. Jimmy Lai was a vocal pro-democracy business tycoon and an influential international figure. He was arrested in August last year under charges of conspiracy with western countries and unauthorized assembly.

Translated from Tibetan.