Hong Kong police arrest pro-democracy media executives, which the U.S. criticizes as politically motivated and strongly condemns.

The U.S. State Department on Thursday strongly condemned the politically motivated search of pro-democracy media outlet Apple Daily and its parent company, Next Media Group, by Hong Kong authorities under the pretext of national security laws, and called for the immediate release of the arrested editors and executives of the newspaper. The State Department said that repression of the media by Hong Kong authorities is inconsistent with commitments and obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

We strongly condemn the arrest of five senior executives of Apple Daily and parent company Next Media,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a telephone briefing Thursday. We call for their immediate release. We are deeply concerned about the Hong Kong authorities’ selective use of national security laws to arbitrarily target independent media organizations. The charge of so-called ‘conspiracy to collude with foreign or offshore forces to endanger national security’ appears to be entirely politically motivated.”

In a statement, Hong Kong police said the four men and one woman arrested “are suspected of violating Article 29 of the National Security Law ‘conspiracy to conspire with foreign states or forces outside the country to endanger national security’. Police have also searched the homes of the arrested men. The five men are now being held for investigation.”

State Department spokesman Price expressed regret that the Hong Kong police cited the Apple Daily report as evidence of what he called “conspiracy to collaborate with foreign or extraterritorial forces.” He said it is well known that exchanging views with foreigners in the press should never constitute a crime.

The State Department spokesman added that the United States is concerned about the growing practice of the Hong Kong authorities to use national security laws as a tool to silence independent media, suppress dissent and stifle freedom of expression. These actions are inconsistent with the Beijing government’s commitments and obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, a binding international agreement that upholds Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and protects the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong people.

Price said the United States calls on Hong Kong authorities to stop stifling media freedom and cease efforts to restrict the free flow of information, which not only undermine Hong Kong’s democratic system but also damage Hong Kong’s credibility and viability as an international hub.

The incident in which Hong Kong police deployed a large number of police officers to conduct a high-profile search of the building of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy media outlet Apple Daily on Thursday, arresting several editors and executives of the newspaper for violating Hong Kong’s national security laws, caused an uproar in and outside Hong Kong.

The British government on Thursday condemned the actions of the Hong Kong police. The searches and arrests at the Apple Daily building show that Beijing is using national security laws to target dissenting voices rather than to address public safety issues, British Foreign Secretary George Raab noted. He added that freedom of the press is one of the human rights China committed to in the UK-China joint statement and should be respected.

In Washington, D.C., the State Department’s senior official for East Asian affairs said in a hearing that Beijing’s approach violates its commitment to a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong and makes the people of Taiwan uninterested in one country, two systems.

Jonathan Fritz, deputy assistant secretary for Asia-Pacific affairs at the State Department, said, “It is clear that China’s commitment to a high degree of autonomy and civil liberties for Hong Kong has been completely discredited over the past year, especially after the Hong Kong government unilaterally enacted the Hong Kong National Security Law. It is not surprising, therefore, that Taiwanese who once considered one country, two systems in the past now have no appetite for the prospect of this model.”

Amnesty International issued a statement saying that the content of the Apple Daily report cited by Hong Kong police as justification for the arrest was deeply troubling and could have far-reaching consequences for all media operating in Hong Kong.

The Chinese government’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong issued a statement in response to the Hong Kong police’s renewed search of the Apple Daily newspaper, saying it firmly supports all efforts to maintain national security and Hong Kong’s prosperity.