Apple Daily closure: UK slams China over ‘chilling chilling blow to free expression’

Britain on Wednesday blasted China for using a new national security law to stifle free speech in Hong Kong after the closure of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily.

“The forced closure of Apple Daily by the Hong Kong authorities is a chilling blow to freedom of expression in Hong Kong,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement.

See also: Thursday to be final edition of Apple Daily, as board forced to halt all Hong Kong operations

“It is crystal clear that the powers under the National Security Law are being used as a tool to curtail freedoms and punish dissent — rather than keep public order,” he said, demanding China respect its obligations over Hong Kong’s 1997 handover from UK rule.

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