Hongkongers rally to support Apple Daily in defiance of government raids and warnings
One day after five Apple Daily executives were arrested, restaurant owners showed their support for the pro-democracy newspaper by buying up companies of its Friday edition for free distribution to their customers.
“We will buy up however many copies you print,” a Taiwanese restaurant owner named Polly told an Apple Daily reporter. “We want to make sure you can survive and operate smoothly. We can never let the truth go away.”
This spirit of generous support arose immediately after the newspaper’s headquarters were once raided by 500 Hong Kong police officers on Thursday. The scope of Thursday’s raid eclipsed the first 200-strong raid in August last year, and reflected authorities’ heightened attention on the pro-democracy paper.
Last year Hongkongers showed their support for Apple Daily by buying up its shares, driving up its stock price to a record high, on the day after founder Jimmy Lai was arrested under the Beijing-imposed national security law last year.
But trading in parent company Next Digital’s shares was suspended on Monday, at the company’s request, before its assets were frozen by Hong Kong Secretary of Security John Lee. So Hongkongers found other ways to show support for the newspaper.
One curry restaurant in Wan Chai offered free meals to all employees of Next Digital and Apple Daily, in a Facebook post on Thursday. The eatery also prepared more than 100 copies of the newspaper on Friday, according to the owner, surnamed Leung.
“I like to invite people to eat here. It’s my freedom,” he said. “There is little I can do, so I will do whatever I can as a show of support. I think all Hongkongers are with Apple Daily, and I hope Apple Daily can last until the end.”
Also offering free meals to Apple Daily staff is a Taiwanese beef noodle restaurant in Hong Kong. “The truth is so important to everyone,” said shopkeeper Wong. “But in this day and age, there are fewer and fewer ways to know about the truth. We shall keep it whenever we can.”
Such comments reflect a spirit of defiance against the views of Hong Kong authorities. Security chief Lee in a Thursday press briefing called on Hongkongers to sever ties and stay away from “criminals,” accusing the five arrested executives of using journalism as a tool to endanger national security.
“As a law enforcement officer, I have a piece of advice to everyone: don’t provoke suspicion,” Lee said. “If it’s not something you want to spread out, and there are no special circumstances to spread it out, I suggest you shouldn’t do it.”
Lee’s comments are being heeded in some quarters. An elementary school teacher was suspended on Friday for trying to distribute 10 copies of Apple Daily in the school, with management accusing him of “violating the rule of not bringing politics into school.”
The teacher, surnamed Fong, was reportedly required to write a review to explain the incident.
“He just bought the copies and put them on his friends’ and colleagues’ desk,” Fong’s elder brother explained to Apple Daily. The elementary school had “overreacted,” he said, because the newspaper is still legally tradeable in the city.
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