#CCP
Crackdown on Stand News is China's First Step in Controlling the World's Narrative, says Former #NextDigital Director

The day after Stand News was forced to shut down by Hong Kong Police, Hong Kong Democracy Council (#HKDC) held a rapid response virtual briefing on December 30, 2021, in which the speakers urged the international community to closely monitor the developing situation.

Not only is freedom of press under attack in Hong Kong, they said, the incident also signifies important future challenges, such as the possibility of China manipulating the world in the future.

The invited speakers were #ThomasKellogg, executive director of the Center for Asian Law at Georgetown University; and #MarkClifford, former independent non-executive director of Next Digital.

As a former director of Next Media, Clifford saw firsthand the government's oppression against Apple Daily, which began even before the National Security Law (#NSL) took effect on June 30, 2020. The crackdown against Stand News had been rumored to be coming for some time; even so, when it finally became reality, Clifford felt it deeply.

"What's happening at Stand News is tragic," Clifford said, "Perhaps not a complete surprise, because we have seen what happened at Apple Daily. It's extraordinary when you're on the other end of state power - unchecked state power. In a city like Hong Kong, it's hard to believe."

The arrests and forced closure of Stand News happened soon after the conclusion of the legislative elections. Hong Kong Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang had twice written to the Wall Street Journal to criticize their reporting of the Hong Kong Elections, even calling its editorials "sickening".

Clifford said that this had not been a coincidence; rather, it reflects the Chinese Communist Party's ambitions to control the world's narrative.

Source: VOA Chinese #Dec30
https://www.voachinese.com/a/experts-analysis-on-hong-kong-standard-news-forced-closure-20211230/6376727.html

Video of the HKDC Rapid Response Virtual Briefing:
https://www.facebook.com/hkdc.us/videos/958932114740331/

#StandNewsCrackdown #NationalSecurityLaw #FreedomOfPress #Media #PoliticalProsecution

#FreedomOfSpeech #PoliceState
#PoliticalOppression
#Free #JimmyLai" – Campaign for world attention on Hong Kong #HumanRights and Press Freedom

On Chinese New Year’s eve (Jan 31), a series of transatlantic illuminations aiming to draw international attention on China's #authoritarian rule over Hong Kong were seen on the walls of Tower Bridge in London and Chinese Embassy in Washington DC.

Bright white lights reading "Free Jimmy Lai and the Apple 7" of three storey tall were projected onto the walls.

In addition, the illuminations also showed the "Olympics rings in thorns", a portrait of Jimmy Lai and a yellow umbrella, the symbol of the 2014 Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong.

The US-based designer, Robin Bell said his intention was to grab people's attention on Human Rights around the world.

Mark L. Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong, shared photographs of the illuminations on his Twitter page, calling the upcoming #WinterOlympics in #Beijing " the most shameful Olympics since the 1936 Nazi Olympics in Berlin”.

#ProtestArt #RobinBell #MarkClifford #AppleDaily #FreedomOfSpeech #FreedomOfPublication

Source: RFA; #Jan31
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/uk-jimmy-02012022155410.html