HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been charged under the city’s national security law, amid a widening crackdown on dissent, according to local media reports. Lai, who founded the Apple Daily tabloid, was charged on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces and endangering national security, local broadcaster TVB reported Friday. Police said in a statement that they arrested a 73-year-old man under the national security law, but did not name him. Lai was arrested under the national security law in August. Beijing imposed the national security law in response to protests in Hong Kong that began in June 2019 over a proposed extradition law and expanded to include demands for greater democracy in the former British colony.

Source: Daily Sun December 11, 2020 07:07 UTC