Hong Kong’s Apple Daily stopped operating at midnight this Wednesday (June 23), and many people lined up to buy the last copy of Apple Daily in the early hours of the following day. In addition, mainland netizens were moved by this action of Hong Kong people and praised them for their “greatness”.
On Thursday (24) at 1:00 am, the last Apple Daily was delivered to many newsstands and convenience stores in Mongkok and Tsim Sha Tsui, and people lined up to buy it. In Mongkok Argyle Street and Sai Yeung Choi Street South junction of a newsstand, the queue of “people” up to hundreds of meters long. In mainland China, netizens learned about the distribution process of the Apple Daily through wall software, and while they lamented the loss of freedom of speech in Hong Kong, they were also moved by the efforts of Hong Kong people to fight for freedom. One netizen, “Mingliang,” said, “The scene was so touching that it brought tears to our eyes.
In an interview with Radio Free Asia on the same day, Hebei scholar Li Yi said that the fact that one million copies of Apple Daily were snapped up by the public instantly shows that people are moving towards each other.
“The fact that Hong Kong people bought the Apple Daily in a frenzy not only reflects the support of Hong Kong people for the newspaper and their deep affection for the Apple Daily, but is also an expression of indignation at the Hong Kong government’s compression of press freedom. It is also a silent protest against the Hong Kong government and the Beijing government.”
After midnight, many people gathered outside the Apple Daily building, turning on their cell phone lights and chanting slogans in solidarity with Apple Daily, and many of the supporters worried that it would be difficult to hear media voices critical of the government in the future. Some people said that the survival environment of local news media is getting worse and worse.
Mr. Pei, a legal professional from Hunan Province, told the station that he had seen the official media in the mainland criticizing the Hong Kong Apple Daily by name, but he did not expect the newspaper to be shut down so soon. Mr. Pei criticized the government for violating the principles of “Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy” and “no change for 50 years. He said.
“Now everything has changed. Because of the previous implementation of the National Security Law, the court cases show that the rule of law in Hong Kong is over. Now even the freedom of the press is gone. The Apple Daily was forced to close down. It shows that the freedom of the press in Hong Kong is dead. When we look at the attitude of Hong Kong people towards the Apple Daily, it reflects the position of the Chinese Communist Party in the hearts of Hong Kong people from the other side.”
Scholar Mr. Pei said that although Apple Daily was forced to close down, its strong willpower served as an example to the mainland people.
Apple Daily’s willpower serves as an example to the mainland people
Mr. Fang, a Sichuan Internet writer, told the station that June 23 was the day when Hong Kong’s press freedom fell into full force. Hong Kong people lined up in the early morning to buy the Apple Daily, expressing their anger and wailing.
“In these 100 years, both the Chinese Communist newspaper people and the Kuomintang newspaper people, Song Jiaoren and Dai Jitao who were baptized by Western civilization in that era, expressed their views on the fate of the country, on the current problems of the society, expressed their freedom of speech and freedom of the press in the public concessions, in the French concessions. But after the communism and the communist party took advantage of this freedom to develop in these 100 years, it backfired on the foundation of freedom.”
Gao Yu, an independent media personality in Beijing, wrote that the newspaper elite accumulated by The Apple for 26 years is the green hill, and the people defending freedom in Hong Kong are even more so, and the public opinion is the immortal green hill!
The news of the forced suspension of Apple Daily was reported by the mainland central media and major news websites, which also mentioned that there are still Hong Kong people who support Apple Daily, but the main tone is still accusing Apple Daily of endangering national security.
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