Stand News closure and the vanishing voice of HK's pan-democrats

Following the closure of Apple Daily, Hong Kong's major pro-democracy online media outlet Stand News has also shuttered.

On 29 December 2021 at 6.20 am, over 200 police officers raided Stand News' Hoi Yuen Road office. They seized over 30 boxes of evidence and arrested six current and former senior staff. They also searched the residence of Ronson Chan, Stand News' deputy assignment editor and chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA). Chan was also brought in to assist in police investigations. Not only that, they froze HK$61 million (S$10.598 million) of Stand News' assets, the highest value of assets frozen in any operation thus far.

This debacle is reminiscent of the Apple Daily raid that took place on 10 August 2020. Back then, the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force (NSD) had also deployed nearly 200 police officers and arrested ten senior staff and democracy activists including Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai.

In addition, Hong Kong media quoted sources as saying that certain personalities, including Stand News founding director Tony Tsoi, have been put on a wanted list. Other reports say that prominent businessman Tsoi could have already left Hong Kong. Tsoi had served as a senior executive in CK Infrastructure Holdings, CCT Telecom, Commercial Radio Hong Kong, Varitronix, and other enterprises.

It is noteworthy that the NSD raided Stand News on suspicion of "conspiracy to publish seditious publication", the same charge that was newly added against Lai and other former Apple Daily senior staff on 28 December 2021.

Looking back on Apple Daily's demise, the fate of Stand News is not surprising, only that it came quicker than expected. On the morning of 29 December 2021, Stand News was still doing a Facebook live broadcast of the raid taking place at Ronson Chan's home. Its social media platforms were still online then. But that same afternoon, the company announced that it was ceasing operations.

On 29 December 2021 at 4 pm, Stand News announced in a statement, "Because of the situation, Stand News is now stopping operations. Acting Editor in Chief Patrick Lam has resigned and all Stand News employees are dismissed."

When reporters asked about the sudden closure at a press conference of the NSD on 29 December 2021, senior superintendent Steve Li denied that the department had barred Stand News from continuing its operations.

This outcome also fulfilled what Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong & Macao Studies and an advisor to Beijing, had said in November 2021, that "Stand News will come into an end".

In a statement released by the Hong Kong government's Information Services Department, those arrested were three men and four women aged between 34 and 73 years old. Based on Sing Tao Daily and HK01 reports, those arrested were acting chief editor Patrick Lam, former chief editor Chung Pui-kuen, and former board members Margaret Ng, Denise Ho, Chow Tat-chi, and Christine Fang.

Among the former board members who were arrested, Ho is a well-known singer and LGBT activist who also participated in the Occupy Central movement and anti-extradition bill protest. Ng is a barrister and former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. As a member of the Civic Party, Ng is a veteran politician and was once one of the leaders of the pro-democracy camp.

Fang is the cousin of former Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan Fang On-sang. Anson Chan, Jimmy Lai, Democratic Party founding chairman Martin Lee, and Cardinal Joseph Zen are seen as the four major spiritual leaders of Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp.

Chung is the husband of former Apple Daily associate publisher Chan Pui-man, who was previously charged for violating the national security law and is currently in pretrial detention. During this operation, Chan Pui-man was arrested once again.

The HKJA, erstwhile chaired by Ronson Chan, consists of roughly 500 local journalists. Investigations have also been launched into the association. Chris Tang, Hong Kong's security secretary, once hinted in September 2021 that the HKJA had received foreign donations. He also accused the HKJA of "infiltrating" schools to attract student journalists.

Stand News was a pro-democracy media outlet since its establishment. In 2012, Tony Tsoi founded Stand News' predecessor, House News.

According to an August 2014 report by Yazhou Zhoukan (a Chinese news magazine), House News had financial relations with Jimmy Lai. Quoting people familiar with the matter, the report said that Lai was House News' major funder and that hundreds of thousands of dollars were injected into House News via print collaborations every month.

In July 2014, House News suddenly announced that it would be shutting down. Later that year in December, a few former House News staff including Tsoi founded a new website called Stand News.

When Stand News was established, the Occupy Central movement had just erupted in Hong Kong, and Stand News reported aggressively on the 1 July march and Occupy Central movement, with clear support for the pro-democracy camp.

During the 2019 anti-extradition movement, Stand News was clearly supportive of the movement, echoing Next Digital's Apple Daily.

When the Hong Kong national security law took effect, Stand News obviously felt the pressure. In late June 2021, Stand News announced that it would remove all articles published up until May 2021 and stop accepting donations. Six of its company directors - Yu Ka-fai, Chow Tat-chi, Margaret Ng, Denise Ho, Christine Fang, and Joseph Lian Yi-zheng - stepped down, while editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen also stepped down in November 2021.

However, the adjustments apparently did not work, as the Hong Kong authorities made it clear that Stand News would be a target moving forward.

In December 2021, Secretary for Security Chris Tang criticised Stand News, saying that its reports on the smart prison at Tai Tam Gap Correctional Institution were biased, misleading, and demonised law enforcement agencies. He stressed that the government would find evidence of wrongdoing by anyone who wanted to break the law and threaten national security.

And in early October 2021, former Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying criticised Stand News for being an agent for the US, and called for it to make public its relations with the US government, political figures and nongovernmental organisations.

At a press conference on 29 December, Steve Li, head of the NSD gave a more detailed account of the charges against Stand News. He said that the latter had allegedly published seditious articles between July 2020 and November 2021, with intent to cause hatred toward the government, incite subversion and encourage foreign sanctions against Chinese officials.

According to HK01, the seditious articles referred to by Li included an exclusive interview with former Keyboard Frontline spokesperson Glacier Kwong Chung-ching in February 2021, in which she called on the German government to impose sanctions on China for the Hong Kong national security law.

Sources say that in May 2021, Stand News reposted an article titled "Viewing the Future of Hong Kong's Resistance from the Experience of Resistance in Northern Ireland," which incited Hong Kongers to follow the armed resistance model of the Irish Republican Army in carrying out resistance activities in Hong Kong.

Li also noted that Stand News had a UK branch, which might be a threat to national security.

Li's claim is true; Stand News is one of a few Hong Kong media with a team in the UK. On 26 December 2020, Stand News put up a Facebook recruitment post calling for candidates for its UK team, which started operations in late February 2021.

According to reports, the UK team was set up to strengthen reports in the UK and Europe relating to Hong Kongers, in the event of a possible large-scale wave of migration to the UK.

The implementation of the Hong Kong national security law has given the police and government a powerful tool to rein in the media. At the same time, the authorities are clamping down harder on fake news, which is probably also putting pressure on the media.

In February, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said in the Legislative Council that social media was rife with fake news, and the government was looking at legislation to curb fake news. Chief Secretary for Administration John Lee also confirmed in December that the government was exploring legislation to handle fake news. He said freedom does not mean doing whatever one wants, and when freedom is carried out within the law, there will be more room for freedom.

Amid the current turbulence, fake news is indeed a problem. For instance, during the pandemic last year, rumours of goods shortages led Hong Kongers to hoard daily necessities such as toilet paper. And during the anti-extradition movement, many social media platforms also spread news that fit their own political beliefs.

But many countries and communities are also worried about whether the law will be used to suppress alternative views.

Following the closure of Apple Daily and Stand News, there are still some media outlets in Hong Kong that reflect views outside the establishment, but take care to operate within the bounds of the national security law.

There is no doubt that the voice of the pan-democratic camp is growing weaker.

The night before the raid on Stand News, Ronson Chan said at the HKJA's anniversary dinner that the past few months have been a turbulent time for Hong Kong's news industry.

He added: "Hong Kong needs truth and reporters."

As the Chinese central government and the Hong Kong government have said, press freedom is not a license to break the law, but if it leads to a "chilling effect", that would also be deeply damaging to Hong Kong.

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