• Jimmy Lai: Hong Kong Media Mogul and Democracy Activist Arrested and Entered into His Newspaper
  • Hong Kong: Two more activists arrested as US accuses China of "eviscerating" freedoms
  • Asia.China may punish with life imprisonment those who violate the new National Security Law in Hong Kong

With the purchase of the Apple Daily newspaper and shares of the conglomerate he runs, Next Digital , which again exploded in the stock market, investors and newspaper readers in Hong Kong today showed their support for Jimmy Lai , the Beijing-critical media mogul who was arrested yesterday, Monday, and you have been released on bail today.

Lai left a Hong Kong police station around midnight (local time), while his supporters applauded his release, France Presse reported.

The scenes seen today on the streets of Hong Kong are already unusual in a city so given to new technologies: less than 24 hours after Lai was arrested, readers put their cell phones aside and went back to the newsstands, from which copies of the Apple Daily flew in in different parts of the city.

In addition, an improvised campaign by the pro-democracy movement that asked investors to buy Next Digital shares was very successful for the second day in a row: if yesterday its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange soared 350% , today it did the same by 331 % .

Lai, her two children and four executives from Next Digital were joined last night by activist Agnes Chow - one of the leaders of the 2014 'Umbrella Revolution' and of the disbanded pro-democracy organization Demosisto-, an observer of the last elections. a district councilor and a member of the student movement who rejects the educational model imposed by Beijing in Hong Kong.

It is the most notorious police operation since the entry into force, on June 30, of the new national security law that China promulgated for Hong Kong, which includes penalties up to life imprisonment for secession, subversion, terrorism or conspiracy with foreign forces.

ALL THE COPIES SOLD OUT

At dawn, when it had not even struck 0200 local time (18.00 GMT), there was already a queue at a newsstand in central Kowloon to get a copy of the Apple Daily, whose cover today shows Lai, handcuffed, on the headline "Apple will continue to fight . "

This morning, a group of pro-democratic activists bought up to a thousand copies and gave them away for free on the subway; in another area, someone acquired numerous copies and also left them on a staircase for citizens to take away.

Jackson, a restaurant worker, explained to Efe: "I have been to many stores and kiosks but they had already sold all the copies. (Apple Daily) is the only traditional medium in Hong Kong that tells the truth. From now on I go to buy it every day to show my support and also towards press freedom in Hong Kong. "

At noon, a group of pro-opposition workers in the Central financial district looked for another way to show their support because social distancing measures by Covid-19 make street protests impossible: they went to a restaurant in the area owned by one of Lai's sons , who is among those arrested yesterday.

This same morning, Lai was transferred by the security forces to a yacht club where a yacht he owned was searched; meanwhile, Chow remained in police custody throughout the day. According to the Police, all the detainees have been detained for alleged crimes contemplated in the aforementioned national security law .

The security forces are also now seeking for alleged "collusion with foreign forces" one of Lai's closest aides, Mark Simon , who is currently abroad.

JOURNALISTS FEAR TO BE "THE NEXT TARGET"

The leader of the Next Digital union, Pun Puk-lam, told Efe that Apple Daily journalists fear they will be the next to be arrested under national security law . "Now that the founder of our newspaper has been arrested, we are afraid that the next target will be us journalists. We have been debating how to protect our own safety, but the scope of the law is too broad. We also fear that the authorities will do so. something against the newspaper so that it cannot continue operating, "he explained.

The ten arrests have generated a reaction of condemnation in the United States and in other countries : the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, assured that the operation shows that China "has annihilated the freedoms of Hong Kong", while the vice president of that country, Mike Pence called Lai's arrest "deeply offensive to freedom lovers around the world."

Beyond being a purely local issue, Beijing accuses Washington of being behind the continuing protests in the city for much of 2019, while the United States believes that China is undermining the freedoms it promised to maintain in Hong Kong until 2047 .

In recent days there has been a crossing of sanctions between both powers , whose ties are increasingly tense: if last week it was Washington who penalized various Chinese and Hong Kong officials such as the head of the local Executive, Carrie Lam, this week it was Beijing who did the same with public figures such as the well-known Republican senators Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz.

Finally, Japan's Minister Spokesperson, Yoshihide Suga, and a spokesman for the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, have expressed their "concern" about the arrests.

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