The parent company of the Apple Daily said Thursday that despite the forced shutdown of the Hong Kong-based Apple Daily today, the Taiwan edition of the Apple Daily is operating normally and is not affected. In connection with the forced suspension of the Apple Daily website in Hong Kong, the Taiwanese government has condemned the closure of the newspaper in Hong Kong under a national security law enacted by Beijing.
According to an AFP report today, the Apple Daily’s parent company said Thursday that the Apple Daily website will continue to operate.
The newspaper’s sudden disappearance in Hong Kong is the latest blow to the freedoms the people of the former British colony have enjoyed so far.
Both Apple Daily, both in Taiwan and in Hong Kong, are owned by media mogul Lai Chi-ying, who is currently imprisoned for his participation in the 2019 pro-democracy protests.
All of Next Digital’s subsidiaries are allegedly “financially independent. In a notice to readers, the media group said, “The operations of the Apple Daily website in Taiwan are unaffected.
Next Digital is the parent company of the two Apple Daily newspapers. The cash-strapped Taiwan edition of Apple Daily ceased publication last month after 18 years of existence, but the website remains active. The group had planned to sell its Taiwan subsidiary in April, but its board eventually gave up, saying it was no longer in its interest.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which handles relations with China, said Thursday that the newspaper’s demise in Hong Kong was the “death knell” for press freedom and freedom of expression in the city. “We strongly condemn the authorities’ political crackdown on the Hong Kong media under the National Security Law,” Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement.
AFP said China imposed the National Security Law on Hong Kong in 2020 in order to retake control of the territory after the massive democracy mobilization in 2019. That had the effect of deterring almost any form of dissent. Nearly a year later, it has fundamentally changed the political and judicial landscape of the city. The decision to freeze the assets of Apple Daily demonstrates the degree of power the authorities have over any company they consider a threat to national security.
Recent Comments