U.S. Calls on China to Stop Targeting Hong Kong Journalists
- Secretary of State Blinken criticizes Stand News closure
- Free press key to Hong Kong future as financial hub: Blinken
Antony Blinken
Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Chinese authorities to stop arresting Hong Kong journalists, a day after the biggest remaining pro-democracy news organization shut down under a probe.
Blinken’s comments Thursday came in response to Stand News’s decision to lay off all its staff and cease operations. The move came hours after more than 200 police raided the outlet’s newsroom, froze some HK$61 million ($7.8 million) of assets and arrested seven people connected to it on a colonial-era sedition law.