The Communist Chinese further broke international agreements on Hong Kong and raided additional free press outlets. Freedom in Hong Kong is being snuffed out. Measures against Beijing are in order.

FNC: “Several Republican political leaders spoke out against the Hong Kong police for arresting seven current and former employees of one of the last pro-democracy newspapers in the city and raiding their headquarters.

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Stand News started in 2014 as a nonprofit organization and cut its teeth covering the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in 2019. Authorities used the law to arrest five editors from Apple Daily, an outlet that had long defended democracy in Hong Kong, accusing the outlet of playing a ‘crucial part’ in what they called a conspiracy with foreign countries to impose sanctions against China and Hong Kong. Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai is currently serving a 20-month prison sentence after being convicted of playing a role in the 2019 protests.

The seven individuals taken into custody Wednesday were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to publish ‘seditious materials’ and encouraging hatred toward the government, according to police. The authorities also froze a total of HK$61 million in assets. High-profile Republican leaders torched the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for the arrests and raid, which was conducted on Wednesday under the communist party’s 2020 National Security Law.”

 

Conservatives reacted with outrage. Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas said, “What the Chinese Communist Party fears most is the world knowing the truth about its crimes. This Orwellian crackdown on non-party sanctioned outlets shows just how fearful they really are.”

“The CCP’s continued assault on Hong Kong’s liberty is reprehensible,” Senator Josh Hawley, R-MO, told press, “The free press has played a critical role in Hong Kong’s continued fight for freedom and these arrests are a shameful reminder of Beijing’s quest for power. I will continue to fight to hold the CCP accountable.”

Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-TN, spoke out. Communist China will arrest, harass and threaten anyone who dares to speak the truth. We must stand with democracy, Hong-Kong, and those in the fight to preserve freedoms from the Chinese Communist Party,” Blackburn continued.

Former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley commented, “China created a Communist surveillance state, is committing genocide against the Uyghurs, and unleashed COVID on the world,” Haley said to media. “This crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong is another reason we must never stop calling them out and holding their feet to the fire.”

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The publication in question shut itself down. “Stand News’s editorial policy was to be independent and committed to safeguarding Hong Kong’s core values of democracy, human rights, freedom, the rule of law and justice,” Stand News said in an announcement, as reported by the Hong Kong Free Press. “Thank you, readers, for your continued support.”