The US Secretary of State expressed his “deep concerns” over the detention in Hong Kong of tycoon Jimmy Lai. Agnes Chow, one of the most important voices of the pro-democracy movement, was also taken by the authorities
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo today expressed his “deep concerns” over the detention in Hong Kong of press magnate Jimmy Lai, one of the leading figures in the pro-democracy movement in the semi-autonomous territory.
The detention is “further proof that the CCP has eviscerated Hong Kong’s freedoms and eroded the rights of its people”, wrote Pompeo on the social network Twitter.
Jimmy Lai, 72, is the owner of two pro-democracy publications often critical of Beijing, Apple Daily and Next Magazine.
Hong Kong police today searched the pro-democracy media group Next Media shortly after the owner was arrested under national security law. Dozens of security forces agents entered the group’s headquarters in the late morning in Hong Kong, located in an industrial area, with journalists from the Apple Daily newspaper broadcasting the images of police searches directly on the social network Facebook.
Seen by many Hong Kong residents as a hero and sole tycoon in Beijing’s critical territory, Jimmy Lai is described in the official Chinese media as “a traitor”, who inspired the pro-democracy demonstrations in the Chinese region, and the leader of a group of personalities accused of conspiring with foreign nations to harm China.
Agnes Chow detained
One of the main figures of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, Agnes Chow, was arrested today, along with nine others, under the new security law, a police source announced.
“It is now confirmed that Agnes Chow was arrested on charges of ‘inciting secession’ under the National Security Act,” reads the account of the activist on the social network Facebook. The arrest of Agnes Chow occurred on the same day that the police detained tycoon Jimmy Lai.
Lai’s arrest was hailed by Beijing, who accuses him of being an “agitator” on the pay of foreign powers seeking to destabilize national security.
“These anti-Chinese agitators in collusion with foreign forces have seriously jeopardized Hong Kong’s national security and prosperity,” the Chinese office in charge of monitoring the situation in the former British colony and in Macau said in a statement. “Jimmy Lai is one of his representatives”, the note reads.
