The Apple Daily was raided by police in August 2020.
Hong Kong’s Security Bureau on Friday (14) invoked the “Hong Kong National Security Law” to freeze the shares of Next Media held by Apple Daily founder Lai Chi-ying, as well as the property of his three private companies in local banks in Hong Kong. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council issued a statement saying that the Hong Kong government has used the National Security Law for the first time to freeze listed companies in Hong Kong, sending a clear signal to the international community that doing business in a city controlled by China is a much higher risk. (By Chen Junhao)
The statement of the Land Commission said that the SAR government’s action is tantamount to announcing to the mainland community that “the risk of doing business in Hong Kong is increasing significantly”. The Land Commission also said that Taiwan once again called on the people concerned to stop suppressing Hong Kong democrats, otherwise public discontent will accumulate and centrifugal.
Hong Kong’s Apple Daily reported on Saturday (15) that, as of the end of September 2020, Next Media had total assets of HK$2.012 billion, liabilities of HK$1.491 billion and net assets of HK$521 million, and Next Media’s “restricted bank balances”, “pledged bank deposits” and “bank balances”. One Media’s “restricted bank balances”, “pledged bank deposits” and “bank balances and cash” totaled $228.7 million, and it is expected that more than $200 million of cash can sustain the Group’s operations for 9 to 10 months.
Next Media 2020 reported that for the half-year results to the end of September 2020, the Group made several shareholder loans to Lai Chi Ying totaling HK$756 million. The group’s production costs and staff salaries and other expenses are huge resulting in losses, Apple Daily said the shareholder loans “are an important source of funding for the group to maintain operations.” Next Media’s cash flow statement shows that the group’s business currently relies mainly on shareholder loans to finance its cash flow in order to maintain an overall positive figure.
In May, Police Commissioner Tang Ping-keung criticized Apple Daily by name for reporting “fake news”, and Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said earlier that the government was legislating to “curb fake news”, the outside world believes that the government has made successive moves in the media sector to purge Radio Television Hong Kong and crack down on “fake news”. Apple Daily, the official media of the Chinese Communist Party, Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao, recently sniped at the “Standpoint News”, it is believed that the media sector will still be targeted in the future, this time the Apple Daily was dealt with by the Security Bureau using the “National Security Law”, the outside world believes that the action against the Apple Daily will come one after another.
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