It is the first time the SAR government has arrested members of the press under the national security law and it came just days after 11 Hong Kong and mainland officials were sanctioned by the US.
by Mary Ma
The dramatic scenes of media tycoon Jimmy Lai being arrested and the huge swarm of police marching up the stairs of his Apple Daily fortress in Tseung Kwan O are shocking.
The morning drama not only affected the confidence of Hong Kong's media and businesses but also rocked the outside world, stoking fears that authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing are strangling press freedom.
It came just over a month after Beijing enacted the controversial national security law for Hong Kong.
It has yet to be shown whether Lai's high-profile arrest means the security law is being enacted retrospectively.
Officers of the newly set-up national security department of the police force said the tycoon was arrested for collusion with a foreign country, uttering seditious words and conspiracy to defraud.
Lai's two sons, Timothy and Ian, together with four of his senior executives were also held.
The scene - with more than 200 police officers raiding a newsroom, handcuffing the founder of a leading newspaper and making him do a perp walk - was stunningly unprecedented.
It is the first time the SAR government has arrested members of the press under the national security law and it came just days after 11 Hong Kong and mainland officials were sanctioned by the US.
Hong Kong has been a pawn in the increasingly fractious Sino-US relations. As Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Sunday, Hong Kong has become an outpost in the power game between the superpowers.
Without doubt, the US will play the press-freedom card even harder following Lai's arrest. That's despite senior police superintendent Steve Li Kwai-wah, who led the raid, saying Apple Daily's editorial department and news materials were not under the scope of the search.
Whatever card the US plays - be it press freedom or human rights - Hongkongers will suffer. But there is nothing to fear as long as our authorities play the law-and-order card correctly.
We must not only be seen to be right, but we must also show the world that the authorities are acting on the new national security law by charging Lai and his accomplices with whatever charges they were arrested for. Their alleged offenses must be spelled out clearly and as quickly as possible.
Under the extremes of the national security law, Jimmy Lai could even be tried in the mainland and, if convicted, face life in prison.
With evidence to be laid out in court, it will then be in the hands of a judge - and then for the eyes of the world to judge.
As Hong Kong and the world eagerly awaited for more facts to unfold, traders were baffled by the shares of Next Digital - the parent company of Lai's Apple Daily - which skyrocketed wildly.
They soared as much as 344 percent in afternoon trading after falling 17 percent in the morning session to HK$0.075 on news of Lai's arrest.
With the heavy turnover, it looks to be more than buying the dip story in the market.
It is possible that some big players are looking to build a major position in Apple Daily shares during such troubling times.
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