An editorial writer of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily was arrested at the airport on Sunday night while attempting to leave the city, local media reported. Unidentified sources told South China Morning Post and online news outlet Citizen News that editorial writer Fung Wai-kong was arrested on suspicion of foreign collusion to endanger national security. According to local media, Fung was en route to Britain when he was arrested. The National Security Act led to the arrest of a 57-year-old man at the airport on Sunday night, but the man has not been identified.
Hong Kong authorities have been cracking down on pro-democracy activists and are overhauling its election laws to prevent opposition voices from entering the legislature. It is the seventh Apple Daily executive arrested in two weeks. The arrest also comes as pro-democracy online news outlet Stand News has announced that it will remove comments published on its site before June and halt fundraising efforts due to concerns over the national security law.
The measures were taken to protect Stand News readers, writers, and editors from Hong Kong’s ‘literary inquisition’, the news outlet said in a statement. Despite the precautionary measures, Stand News said it would continue to report the news. Stand News has been going through trials and hardships with Hong Kong people for the past six and a half years, cherishing each other and weaving the common memory of Hong Kong’s survival. ‘For the sake of passing on these memories, we will continue to serve Hong Kong’s people…’ said in a statement.
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HK News said it would stop accepting subscriptions, and stop recording and writing news and happenings in Hong Kong. Assets can be frozen under the national security law if authorities believe that the money is connected to any crime. Last week, authorities froze $2.3 million in assets associated with the Apple Daily newspaper, which has stopped publication due to employees’ safety concerns and the inability to pay wages.
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