21 countries support Hong Kong's "Apple Daily"

A coalition of 21 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and Australia, issued a joint statement today in solidarity with Hong Kong's Apple Daily and expressed concern over the possible announcement of new legislation in Hong Kong to suppress the media.

The Office of the Spokesperson of the U.S. State Department released a statement today from the Media Freedom Coalition concerned with Hong Kong's Apple Daily. The members of the coalition who signed the statement expressed strong concern about the forced closure of Hong Kong's Apple Daily and the arrest of the newspaper's staff by Hong Kong authorities.

The statement pointed out that the use of the Hong Kong National Security Law to suppress the news industry is a serious and negative step, which undermines Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy, as well as the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong people regulated by the Hong Kong Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

Countries pointed to the actions against Apple Daily against the backdrop of heightened media censorship in Hong Kong, including pressure on the independence of the public broadcaster and recent legal action against journalists by Hong Kong authorities.

Coalition members also expressed high concern over new legislation in Hong Kong that may be published with the aim of or could be used to eliminate media scrutiny and criticism of government policies and actions.

Press freedom has been central to Hong Kong's success and international reputation for many years, the statement said. Hong Kong and Chinese authorities should fully respect and safeguard this important right in accordance with China's obligations under international law.

Signatories to this statement from the Alliance for Media Freedom include Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovakia, Switzerland, The United Kingdom and the United States have a total of 21 countries.

Apple Daily in Hong Kong announced its closure after publishing its last issue on June 24. Before and after the closure of the newspaper, newspaper executives and several journalists were also reported to have been arrested by the Hong Kong police.