US calls on Hong Kong to release arrested Stand News workers Hong Kong protest news

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that silencing the independent media undermines Hong Kong’s “credibility and viability” as a global financial hub.

US Secretary of State Antony Blink calls on Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to release workers immediately pro-democracy Stand News media They were arrested after a police search.

“We call on the PRC and Hong Kong authorities to stop targeting the free and independent media in Hong Kong and to immediately release journalists and media outlets who have been wrongfully arrested and charged,” Blinken said in a statement, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

“By silencing the independent media, the PRC and local authorities are undermining Hong Kong’s credibility and viability,” he added.

“A government that is not afraid of the truth takes the free press. Journalism is not sedition. ”

In this regard, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Thursday that the raids and arrests were not aimed at the media industry.

Lame said the demands for the release of people arrested by foreign governments would be against the rule of law.

Seven current and regular Stand News editors, board members and a journalist were arrested on Wednesday on charges of conspiracy to publish a seditious publication.

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

Canada will always stand up for democracy and freedom of the press. We are deeply concerned about the arrests in Hong Kong by Stand News management and former staff, including Canadian citizen and activist Denise Ho.

– Melanie Joly (@melaniejoly) December 29, 2021

All seven were arrested under a criminal ordinance from the time when Hong Kong had a British colony before 1997, when it returned to China. The convicts could face up to two years in prison and a fine of $ 5,000 ($ 640) in Hong Kong.

Stand News, founded in 2014 as a non-profit organization, was the most prominent pro-democracy publication in Hong Kong, following a national security investigation this year. The closure of the tycoon Jimmy Lai’s imprisoned tycoon’s Apple Daily.

“Complete attack on press freedom”

The Stand News attack has raised more concerns about press freedom in the former British colony, promising to protect its freedoms, including the free press, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

After freezing its $ 61 million ($ 7.8 million) assets in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Stand News announced that the publication was closing.

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly has also denounced the arrests of Hong Kong journalists, including Hong Kong-born Denise Ho, who was born in Hong Kong but grew up in Canada.

“We are deeply concerned about the arrests of current and former management and staff at Hong Kong’s Stand News, including Canadian citizen and activist Denise Ho,” Joly said.

The US has already done that imposed sanctions on Hong Kong leaders and reduced its separate territorial status under U.S. law after Beijing stepped forward and enacted a draconian security law.

A Hong Kong journalists’ association has called on the city government to protect freedom of the press in accordance with the Hong Kong Constitution.

“The Hong Kong Association of Journalists (HKJA) is deeply concerned that police have repeatedly arrested members of the media and searched the offices of news organizations with a large amount of journalistic material within a year,” he said in a statement.

Benedict Rogers, founder and CEO of the Hong Kong Watch NGO, said the arrests were “only a complete attack on the freedom of the Hong Kong press.”

“When a free press guaranteed by the Hong Kong Basic Law is labeled‘ sedition ’, this once big, open and international city is a symbol of the speed with which it has fallen to more than one police state,” he said.

Wednesday’s arrests also came later removal of sculptures and other artwork from university campuses last week.

The works were in favor of democracy and commemorated the victims of China’s 1989 anti-democracy demonstration in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.