June 22, 2021–The writing may have already been on the wall for the forced closure of the Apple Daily paper when China passed its security law. But the news yesterday that China’s strong-arm control of Hong Kong would force the pro-democracy tabloid to shut down still stung like an unexpected bite.
In the past week, Hong Kong authorities froze the paper’s financial assets, arrested two of the paper’s senior executives and raided the paper’s offices. Unable to pay staff or operations, the paper is expected to close within days.
The forced closure of the paper made headline news around the world on Monday. And in Hong Kong, it represents “the biggest sledgehammer blow to Hong Kong’s fast-vanishing civil liberties” since the handover to China in 1997, an editorial in the Apple Daily says.
China Clampdown
China has increasingly clamped down on civil liberties in Hong Kong since 2019. The suppression, instigated and controlled by Beijing, sparked mass protests on the island. Now many of those pro-democracy activists are seeking safe harbor as asylum refugees in Germany, the United States, Britain and Australia.
National Security Law
In March, China’s National People’s Congress enacted electoral reforms, which guaranteed that Hong Kong would only elect “patriots” loyal to Beijing. That followed the passage in 2020 of national security laws in China that gave the mainland strong-arm control over the island, making it commonplace for Beijing to crack down on pro-democracy movements as an act of subversion. According to the BBC, the security reforms gave China extensive authority to fine companies, imprison offenders, put citizens and visitors under surveillance, and manage information.
This week, we see how the law impacts freedom of the press. It effectively ends it. While many outlets continue to publish in Hong Kong, one of the island’s most colorful papers has only a few more days, if not hours, to publish. Hong Kong patriots loyal to China have identified it as a threat.
‘Collusion with Foreign Forces’
Rather than view speech and press freedoms as an essential part of a functioning society, Hong Kong authorities see it as a direct threat to their system. As the Hong Kong Security Office arrested five Apple Daily employees, including the editor-in-chief, they charged them with “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and external elements.”
Control of the Flow of Funds
It’s significant that it wasn’t the raid of the paper’s offices by 500 Hong Kong security officers that will keep the paper from publishing. It is the control of the flow of funds. Last December, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority began freezing bank accounts of pro-democracy activists. Last week, it went after Apple Daily. It froze the paper’s financial assets as well as funds worth US $2.3 million from three companies linked to the paper.
A Global Financial Center, Still
Hong Kong has one of the largest and most active financial centers in the world. It’s considered by the Global Financial Centres Index to be the fourth largest financial hub, just behind New York, London and Shanghai.
Once called one of the “freest economies” in the world by the Heritage Foundation, the U.S.-based think tank ejected Hong Kong from its rankings in 2021. (It should be noted, as a footnote, that its previous free-flowing financial system enabled countries like North Korea to evade sanctions.)
Now that China is in control, many financial analysts are questioning whether the island can remain an attractive financial hub. So far, the consensus is that it will, as long as it serves as an entry point into China’s market. But it remains to be seen how all the cards will play out.
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