Hong Kong's laid-off journalists see a dark, uncertain road ahead

Journalists laid off after the folding of a number of outspoken news organizations since the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) imposed a ban on public dissent face an uncertain future amid dwindling freedom of expression in Hong Kong, they told RFA on Tuesday. A Jik, a former journalist at the now-disbanded Stand News, said she never expected the news website to fold, even after Jimmy Lai's pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper was forced to fold after its assets were frozen amid an investigation into the paper's opinion-writers under the national security law.

"Once they start arresting editors, then you start to worry about your boss, and whether that will also happen to them sooner or later," A Jik said.

On Dec. 29, 2021, her worst fears were finally realized, as more than 200 national security police raided the offices of Stand News, seizing more than 30 boxes of material and arresting its former chief editor Chung Pui-kuen and acting chief editor Patrick Lam, as well as former pro-democracy lawmaker Margaret Ng, Cantopop star Denise Ho, Chow Tat-chi and Christine Fang, all of whom have served on the board of directors.

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