Week after raids on Stand News, another Hong Kong portal to shut operations

Citizen News, an independent news platform based out of Hong Kong, has declared that it would shut down its operations on Tuesday to protect its staff given the deteriorating media environment in the Chinese-ruled city, Reuters reported.

The announcement was made on Sunday, less than a week after nearly 200 police personnel raided the office of Stand News, another independent media outlet, accusing its editors of sedition.

In a statement, Citizen News said, “Regrettably, the rapid changes in society and worsening environment for media make us unable to achieve our goal fearlessly. Amid this crisis, we have to first make sure everyone on the boat is safe.”

Chris Yeung, chief writer at the organisation and former president of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, said during a press conference on Monday that the decision was made within a short period of time. “The trigger point was the fate of Stand News.”

Police raided the offices of Hong Kong's Stand News on Wednesday last week. The assets of the online organisation have been frozen and seven current and former senior editors and former board members have also been arrested.

Additionally, former Stand News chief editor Chung Pui-kuen and acting chief editor Patrick Lam were charged on Thursday with a conspiracy to publish sedition materials, and have been denied bail. Four former members of the Stand News board were released on bail pending further investigations and have not been charged yet.

The Guardian reported that the UN and media watchdogs CPJ and RSF have condemned the crackdown as an attack on press freedom.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung said in an interview with China News Agency on Monday that the Security Bureau’s biggest achievement last year was national security as many “anti-China agitators” had been arrested.

He said that the cessation of Apple Daily impressed him the most.

Tang said, “This newspaper was poisoning Hongkongers, especially giving the young people a wrong idea about China. Since the newspaper has been shut down now, the society will be better and more democratic...I am looking forward to this era of rebirth for Hong Kong.”