Beijing has muted Hong Kong’s media with arrests

Beijing has muted Hong Kong’s media with arrests

With the closure of two news outlets in Hong Kong in just a few days, the Chinese government has effectively ushered in the demise of independent media in a city that once boasted some of the freest and most aggressive news media in Asia.

The two outlets, Stand News and Citizen News, were once part of a flourishing media that arose covering pro-democracy protest movements in Hong Kong. When the movement was stamped out by the new security law, the outlets turned their focus to the court cases against protesters and opposition politicians.

But such coverage has become risky. Jimmy Lai, who led the aggressively independent tabloid Apple Daily, was arrested in 2020 under a national security law aimed at quashing dissent. Last week, seven people connected to Stand News were arrested after hundreds of police raided its offices.

Traditional news media has grown increasingly cautious. Radio Television Hong Kong, a public broadcaster that has long been considered one of Hong Kong’s most reliable news providers, has been remolded into something that critics say more closely resembles state media. When Peng Shuai, the Chinese tennis star, accused a former senior Communist Party official of sexual assault last year, mainstream outlets hardly covered it.

What’s next: The silencing of independent outlets has expanded the influence of Beijing’s publications, which are monitored for clues as to what the security services might do. When their attacks intensify, official actions often follow.