The Hong Kong Police National Security Service prosecuted “Position News” and its two editors and editors, both new and old, for “conspiracy to publish seditious publications.” The governments of the United Kingdom and the United States and international organizations have continued to express their concerns about the collapse of Hong Kong’s “Stance News” after being searched.
The defendants are 52-year-old former director and former editor-in-chief of “Stance News” Zhong Peiquan, and 34-year-old former acting editor-in-chief Lin Shaotong, and the “Stance News” company. The defendant was brought to the West Kowloon Magistracy on Thursday (December 30). Once found guilty, he will face up to two years in prison and a fine of 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (641 U.S. dollars; 4084 yuan).
Prior to the National Security Police arrested a total of seven people, the police confirmed that the arrested persons who have not been charged will continue to be detained by the police for investigation. According to Hong Kong media reports, this includes singer He Yunshi, former scientific editor Zhou Dazhi of “Stance”, barrister Wu Aiyi and senior social welfare worker Fang Minsheng four former directors, and the former deputy director of Apple Daily Chen Peimin who is currently in custody.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region authorities to release the arrested persons. The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Carrie Lam, criticized Western officials for “traveling on the rule of law”. The Commissioner’s Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in Hong Kong warned Western countries that “every acts of injustice will kill themselves.”
The crime of “conspiracy to publish seditious publications” is not a crime under the Hong Kong National Security Act, but a crime under the Criminal Offences Ordinance, which can be traced back to the 1938 Sedition Ordinance enacted by British Hong Kong. However, after the “Hong Kong National Security Law” was promulgated and implemented last year, several people have been prosecuted by the Hong Kong National Security Police for “conspiracy to publish seditious publications.”
On the day before the “Stance News” was searched, the former “Apple Daily” founder Li Zhiying and other seven newspaper executives were also charged with “conspiracy to publish seditious publications” by the Hong Kong Department of Justice.
“Stance News” announced the immediate end of operations after the raid and dismissed all employees. The “Stance” website and all its social media platforms were shut down and emptied at 23:00 (15:00 GMT) on Wednesday, and its British branch also announced its dissolution.
Senior Superintendent of the Hong Kong Police National Security Department Li Guihua announced on Wednesday that the police had frozen 61 million Hong Kong dollars (US$7.82 million; RMB 49.85 million) in assets based on the Hong Kong National Security Act. He questioned why “Position” “has so much money” and can support the operation of a British branch in need, and questioned whether it is used to “collaborate with foreign forces”-this is one of the crimes in the “Hong Kong National Security Act” .
Chen Langsheng, the former deputy interview director of “Stance News”, who is also the chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, choked up when attending a commercial radio political commentary program on Thursday, saying that this is the reporters who continued to provide live broadcasts to readers on the streets during the “reverse transmission” demonstrations in 2019. Let the public feel that they are worthy of support, and then sponsor them, “but yesterday I told people that there was something like an’action’, I think it’s really unfair.”
Reactions from all walks of life
Brinken said: “Journalism is not incitement. We call on the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong authorities to stop targeting Hong Kong’s free and independent media and immediately release those journalists and media managers who have been unfairly arrested and prosecuted.”
Brinken also said on Twitter: “A government that is confident and not afraid of the truth will embrace free media.”
British Foreign Office Secretary of State for Asian Affairs Amanda Milling (Miao Minting) also said via Twitter that the Hong Kong police search for “Stance News” and its personnel “further cannibalize Hong Kong’s freedom of speech.” The UK has previously worked with international partners. Condemning the suppression of media freedom in Hong Kong will continue to speak out for press freedom issues around the world.
The European Union’s External Action Agency, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly (Melanie Joly; Zhao Meilan) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR) also condemned the search for “Stance News”.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said on the evening of Wednesday (29th): “We are sorry to see once again that the Chinese Communist Party once again tore up its promise of one country, two systems and once again suppressed freedom of speech in Hong Kong.”
Carrie Lam responds to Blincoln’s statement
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam convened a press conference on Thursday morning to review the work of the past year, and was questioned by media reporters about the search and arrest of “Stance News” personnel. Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said: “We are not targeting some media as you said, and we are targeting media with certain positions, but if any action by these media is suspected to be illegal, then we have to take action. The action taken must be based on the law. , Based on a long investigation and search for evidence, and then the Department of Justice will make an independent prosecution decision, which will be handed over to a court with judicial independence to make a ruling.”
“I have also noticed…Some Western institutions, organizations, media, and even foreign governments, without knowing Hong Kong laws or the evidence, make jump to conclusions, and even ask the SAR government to release all arrested persons. I think those who speak these words, including some senior government officials, are trampling on the rule of law.”
Carrie Lam also specifically responded to Blinken’s statement: “I agree that journalism is not incitement, but inciting acts and activities under the guise of news reports and inciting others through public means and activities are unforgivable.”
The Commissioner’s Office of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong issued a rebuttal on Wednesday night against the EU’s Foreign Action Agency and the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Association’s statement on the “Situation News” incident, accusing the comments of “confusing black and white, reversing right and wrong, and blatantly spreading harsh remarks and wantonly defamation of the rule of law in Hong Kong. And freedom, in an vain attempt to obstruct the SAR police’s law enforcement, and openly shield the anti-China chaos in Hong Kong.”
The statement said: “The spokesperson of the Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong expressed strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition. He pointed out that Hong Kong’s historical trend of bringing chaos up anyway is unstoppable. Any external intervention to discredit is like a man’s arm blocking a car. It is overwhelming and doomed to fail!”