At 10:45 p.m., there was applause from the Apple Daily in Hong Kong. Editor-in-chief Lam Man-chung just sent the latest issue of the newspaper to the printer, bitterly chanting his colleagues, “Go ahead, Hong Kong!” Eventually, the lights went out in the building, and journalists went home after 26 years of Apple Daily existence. But it began to live in the streets, where impatient locals lined up in long queues, waiting for the moment when the last million copies would get from the printer to the newsagents’ counters.
–
As a memento of the 2019 riots, some dressed in black and chanted the pro-democracy slogan “Free Hong Kong, the revolution of our time.” Just a few hours earlier, the same motto was one of the reasons why a 24-year-old protester was facing a life sentence. Queues of hundreds of supporters began to form as early as ten in the evening, while newspapers arrived at the stalls less than an hour after midnight.
–
The Apple Daily was known in the media market for its anti-government stance. It decided to close a year after Beijing introduced law and national security in Hong Kong in June 2020. Towards the end of the lead, the Apple Daily finally ordered a little earlier than planned. During its second raid in a week, the National Security Police detained the editor-in-chief on suspicion of conspiracy and collaboration with foreign forces. In a farewell note, former magazine publisher Chan Pui Man said the painful decision was made because of concerns about the safety of its employees.
–
A few days earlier, Beijing had frozen the accounts of the daily owner of the daily, media mogul and critic of the Chinese regime Jimmy Lai. Next Digital, which includes the Apple Daily, said after the board meeting that if the authorities did not decide to return the confiscated property, they would be forced to end within a “horizon of days”. The funds were not left to pay or cover the necessary expenses.
–
Hundreds of people queued at a newsstand in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok in the early hours of Thursday to get the last copy of Apple Daily. It took our SCMP reporter 4.5 mins to walk from one end of the queue to the other. One buyer said he spent two hours queuing. pic.twitter.com/QSyZpbZdT1
— SCMP News (@SCMPNews) June 24, 2021
–
On Thursday’s radio broadcast, Clement So York-kee, a professor of journalism and communication at the University of China, said the newspaper’s coverage had continued to improve in recent years, attracting readers with its unique “law journalism.”
–
However, the Chinese state media has never spoiled with positive reviews of the Apple Daily. “Due to a lack of understanding by the Chinese Communist Party, anti-government officials in Hong Kong – including the separatist Apple Daily – use the party’s demonic tactic to arouse fear or even hatred of mainland China and widen the gap between Hong Kong and mainland people.” .
–
However, saying goodbye to the “separatist newspaper” was not without emotions on Wednesday night. Newspaper sellers, who had their hands full since midnight, were also preparing for the last day with the Apple Daily. The owner of the Argyle Street newsstand, Michelle Man, ordered 8,000 copies, much more than usual. For the eager, she also posted a sign announcing: “Apple Daily will arrive at 1.30”. People continued to buy copies even during Thursday’s trip to work.
–
I believe that with the end of the Apple Daily, the voice of the Hong Kong representative will disappear. This is the day I want to remember. I will not read any newspapers after today.
–
Around eight o’clock in the morning, the owner of a newsstand at the intersection of Argyle Street and Sai Yeung Choi Street began to deplete supplies. The first thousand was gone before dawn. Those interested in the last issue are waiting in lines and in the rain with prepared banknotes and taking several pieces at once. According to social media reports, this scene at the intersection of two streets was nothing special. “Thank you! Serve yourself, take them, ”shouted the sellers with their hands full of money.
–
“We had a good war. Although we are sorry, we are grateful that we and Hong Kong persevered until the end, “reads part of the story printed on the front page of the last issue. Regrettable remarks were also made among the people in line. The 48-year-old Ha spoke for The Post, going from booth to booth and buying as many prints as possible. “I believe that the voice of the Hong Kong representative will disappear by the end of the Apple Daily,” he said. “This is a day I want to remember. I will not read any more newspapers after today. It doesn’t make sense to read messages that I know are made somewhere like a copier. ”
–
A woman with the surname Yau also took home five copies. “I feel helpless,” she said. “I hope the Apple Daily will start again soon. There is nothing that Hong Kong can do about it. I couldn’t even sleep last night. “
–
The heads of the publishing house also resign from their positions. Chan Pui-man thanked her employees and supporters and said she was leaving her position as director of five related companies. He is one of five executives arrested by the National Security Police last week, three of whom have been released on bail without charge. The other two are accused of conspiracy to cooperate with foreign forces and are awaiting detention.
–
Not everyone is unhappy at the end of the Apple Daily. “I bought a rival Oriental Daily because I don’t support the Apple Daily. I’m Chinese and Hong Kong belongs to China, “a man named Du told SCMP, adding that the ending medium is” illegal “. After all, on a busy night in Hong Kong, the Chinese state media report on their own.
–
“One week before the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Hong Kong vibrates in a festive mood. It is also the 24th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the homeland, which some locals consider unprecedented. Buses and trams in the Chinese Special Administrative Region were dressed in a new red and were equipped with elements of the Communist Party to celebrate the big day, “writes the state media Global Times. Instead of the slogans “Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of today”, he mentions “We are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party and the 24th anniversary of Hong Kong’s repatriation.”
—
