To readers of Apple Daily:

This is the worst of times in Hong Kong.

June 20 marks the 26th anniversary of Apple Daily, but the paper faces an unprecedented crackdown by the regime, which will go down in history as: On the morning of June 17, the national security unit of Hong Kong police mobilized 500 officers to conduct a raid of Next Digital and arrested two media executives and three news staff for “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security” under Article 29 of the national security law.

After five hours of investigation, police confiscated a large number of items, including 38 computers of journalists, which contained considerable journalistic materials. Hong Kong’s press freedom is now hanging by a thread.

The law enforcement has labelled journalistic materials that were gathered openly as evidence of crime; while the regime has publicly called on journalists to keep a distance from fellow media workers, who are merely doing their jobs. Today’s Hong Kong feels unfamiliar and leaves us speechless. It feels as though we are powerless to stop the regime from exercising its power as it pleases.

Nevertheless, the staff of Apple Daily is standing firm. We will continue to persist as Hongkongers and live up to the expectations so that we have no regrets to our readers and the times we are in.

History will pass judgement on today’s accusations against Apple Daily. In an era where the regime can draw arbitrary red lines, the staff of Apple Daily will remain in their positions and report the truth for Hong Kong people in a legal, reasonable and fair manner.

The responses of other countries and agencies to the situation in Hong Kong and China are facts disclosed to the public and visible to the world. Reporting them truthfully to Hong Kong people is to realize the promise we made in the editorial of our first edition: “We have confidence in the penetrating power of information technology because we believe darkness will not overcome the light. Whether it is Hong Kong or any corner of the world, the penetrating power of the media is the greatest guarantee of freedom and stability.”

Though we are facing a sweeping clampdown on our publication, the staff of Apple Daily will hold fast to our duties faithfully and press on till the end to see the arrival of dawn.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play