Meet the man fighting hard for Hong Kong
The China Letter: August 13, 2020
Newspaper gets bruised
The media tycoon behind Apple Daily was arrested during a raid, along with at least nine staffers, which demonstrated Beijing’s new security law in action. But the newspaper vows to continue publishing in the spirit of press freedom. Jimmy Lai returned to the newsroom after a night in custody, but says the future won’t be easy:
While thousands of Hong Kongers have either applied for or renewed British passports, in response to the invitation to move, most simply can’t leave because of the expenses involved. China’s embassy in the U.K. has issued a warning over Boris Johnson’s criticism of the security law, and his concern following Jimmy Lai’s arrest:
Next Digital, the holding company of Apple Daily, saw its stock price rise fourfold in the aftermath of the arrests. Hong Kong residents were lining up to buy copies of the newspaper that covered the arrest: 350,000 were printed, five times its usual print run.
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The battle over the apps
WeChat joined TikTok in the line of White House fire last week, with Donald Trump’s executive order that would limit access to services with ownership in China. Yet, it’s still not clear what this would mean from a technological standpoint. And while TikTok will possibly be sold to Microsoft, or another buyer, WeChat’s fortunes may be impacted:
WeChat being banned in the U.S. would inconvenience users who rely on it for communicating with people in China, since other forms of communication are more expensive, and email is less common there. And yet, there’s recent evidence that international WeChat users have their messages surveilled on China’s end.
Huawei’s shady lady
New reporting from CBC News in Canada provided insight into how paid protesters were found in January to make it look like Huwaei executive Meng Wanzhou had fans in Vancouver who demanded her freedom from extradition proceedings, until their cover was blown. (But the woman behind it, Joey Zhang, has also left a trail of other stunts.)
A questionable dispatch
American state department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus responded to reporting from NBC News, which involved going into the Wuhan lab suspected as where the coronavirus originated, then evidently parroting talking points from China. Beijing recently claimed that COVID-19 was found on an imported shipment of frozen seafood.
The last words, for now
French luxury jeweller Cartier has an advertising campaign with three couples, timed to China’s version of Valentine’s Day: Quixi Festival falls on August 25. “Father and son are also friends—happily sharing life’s journey,” reads the text under two cycling men, which is presumed to be a backhanded way of acknowledging gay relationships:
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