Hong Kong media tycoon and activist Jimmy Lai arrested by police at his home in Hong Kong

Hong Kong media tycoon and activist Jimmy Lai arrested by police at his home in Hong Kong.

 

 (image source : twitter)

 

morning comes from Hong Kong where

prominent Hong Kong media mobile jimmy

has been arrested by the city's police

under the new national security law

the 72 year old is one of the most

popular pro-democracy activists in hong

kong

he owns the apple daily express and next

magazine publications

which are known for their anti-Beijing

commentary a company spokesperson said

that la

was picked up by the police at around 7

a.m local time

and other senior executive of his media

empire were detained along with him

Hong Kong's police have announced that

seven people were arrested on charges of

colluding with foreign powers

jimmy is reportedly one of them the

police has also secured a search warrant

for liar's company officers

reports now indicate that Hong kong

police are currently searching

apple news officers for the evidence of

any collusion

allegations against lye were triggered

by his meeting with u.s secretary of

state mike pompeo

and vice president mike pence last year

lye was arrested earlier this year on

charges of unlawful assembly

this was before the enactment of the

national security law jimmy

had promised to stay in Hong kong and

fight Beijing's oppression despite

having a target on his back and in an

interview ahead of the security laws

enactment lai said that he was prepared

for prison

he is easily the most high profile

individual to have been arrested

under this new security law la is a

deeply

despised figure in Beijing he arrived in

Hong kong at the age of 12

fleeing communist oppression he worked

his way up from sweatshops

and created a vast clothing empire the

1989 tiananmen square crackdown turned

him into a fierce government critic

the communist regime shut down his

offices in mainland china forcing him

to sell his clothing empire and soon

after he made his entry into the media

industry

yeah and yesterday

now for more details on this story we

are being joined live by our

correspondent Richard kimball from Hong

Kong

a very good morning to you Richard and

thank you so much for joining us now

this arrest of Hong Kong's pro-democracy

tycoon jimmy lai has sparked global

outrage

we know that this is all under the ambit

of the national security law imposed by

china

but tell us a little bit more about the

charges against him

that's right he's been accused by the

police of colluding with foreign forces

and also on suspicion of potentially

defrauding

the Hong Kong government over the way

that he's been using his company

now the collusion with foreign forces

the first charge

is one that's been levied against seven

other people who have been

arrested today as you mentioned and it

comes after a spate of other arrests

that have taken place over recent weeks

under this new national security law

identifying and targeting key

pro-democracy individuals who have been

speaking out in recent months

against the national security law and

against the Beijing government

the other charge with relation to fraud

is now emerging more details coming

through even as we speak

that suggest this is actually due to a

technicality with regards to how the

company

has listed its operations in the

building that it owns and there's a

suggestion that it actually might boil

down to

a simple act of offering extra services

beyond the media operations

that the company actually uh offers as

part of its main business

so this may be seen by some

pro-democracy supporters as a classic

sense of persecution against the company

on on a technicality rather than being a

serious charge

right just elaborating on that we're

also getting reports of a publication

uh the newsroom being searched by

officials shortly after lies arrest

and it is believed that this publication

was critical of beijing so can you tell

us a little bit more about this

yes many of the publications under next

media which is the parent company of the

apple daily newspaper which is very

widely read in Hong kong and some

surveys say is the second most

read news source in Hong kong many of

them have for a long time been very

critical of the government here also of

Beijing

and specifically of the national

security law but police searches more

than 100 offices

going into that building before 10 a.m

local time here today

and that's a site that's really not been

seen in Hong kong before so many police

going through a newsroom

so it's sparking a lot of concern among

the the journalistic community here

where there's already

um criticism from the foreign

correspondence club here with regards to

how long it's taking

for the government immigration to

actually approve visas for journalists

to operate here which is leading some

concern that Hong kong

could end up being further wrapped up

into this continued

dislocation between the u.s and china

when it comes to how to operate fairly

and freely in the media

right now richard there seems to be

another crackdown on descent and

any kind of freedom of expression in

Hong kong and people are saying that

this is the end of autonomy in Hong kong

so what are the pro-democracy activists

saying

well certainly social media this morning

has lit up yet again for

another consecutive week with anger and

frustration from pro-democracy

activists calling this the beginning of

the police state in Hong kong the end of

press

freedom in Hong kong all of these

messages being thrown around

there are it should be said some

supporters of the government in this

regard who see people like jimmy lai

and other outspoken pro-democracy

supporters as troublemakers who are

really trying to

upset the stability of Hong Kong and

undermine this new national security law

so

these people are not without their

critics but certainly the pro-democracy

camp

seeing this is yet another example of

the government targeting people who are

really just standing up for the rights

of the average Hong konger

so this again is continuing to divide

Hong Kong society

there are those who really just long now

for stability and economic prosperity in

this city and are fed up

with all of this continued unrest but

for all the pro-democracy supporters

seeing somebody as prominent as jimmy ly

and his two sons and his executives from

his company

being arrested in this way is just going

to add further fuel to the flames of

their attempts to try and continue to

show an opposition

right now my final question this arrest

comes quick on the heels of the u.s

sanctions imposed on Hong kong's chief

executive Carrie lam

and other top officials as well and yet

it seems that Hong Kong and Beijing's

officials are

undeterred and continue to clam down on

any kind of political freedom

so has there been any response from cray

lam's administration

well the response to the us sanctions

has been very strong it's interesting

because

a few weeks ago when she was asked about

the potential for sanctions on her

personally she said she would laugh it

off

and that it really wouldn't cause a any

concern whatsoever

roll forward three weeks when those

sanctions are actually imposed and she

really has

instead been parroting the line from

Beijing and saying

for example these sanctions are

despicable that they are

uh hypocritical and being incredibly

strong with her condemnation

of u.s actions and that's widely been

condemned both by Beijing and the Hong

Kong government

the pro-democracy camp here on the other

hand they do actually welcome

this personal action against the Hong

Kong leadership because they see this

as the only means by which to put

pressure on the government but generally

speaking all of those actions by the us

so far just being dismissed and met with

a lot of outrage here in the

establishment

right right all right Richard thank you

so much for joining us this morning and

for all your inputs on this story

let's move on to the other big story

that beyond has been tracking health

secretary

Alex other met with

you