People gather to protest against the closure of the Apple Daily newspaper in London on June 27. Photo: Hasan Esen/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The former managing editor of the English edition of Apple Daily, Hong Kong's biggest pro-democracy newspaper, was arrested at the Hong Kong airport on charges of collusion, Bloomberg reports.
Why it matters: Apple Daily shuttered last week following the freezing of its assets under China's national security law.
- Journalist Fung Wai-kong's arrest comes days after police arrested an Apple Daily columnist, who publishes under the name Li Ping, for allegedly "conspiring to collude with foreign countries or foreign forces to endanger national security" under the law.
Of note: Authorities have increasingly been relying on the law, which provides the government with broad power to limit people's political freedom and to arrest several journalists at the news outlet, founded by imprisoned tycoon Jimmy Lai.
- Under the law, the authorities charged Lai and other pro-democracy activists after they organized a massive protest in 2019.
- Hong Kong police recently cited media articles as potentially violating the law when they held five Apple Daily executives.