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Taiwanese President Tsai-Ing-wen has condemned China for police raids on the Hong Kong offices of pro-democracy media outlet Stand News and arrest of six for "conspiracy to publish seditious publications".
"The arrests of #StandNews staff and singer Denise Ho @hoccgoomusic are yet another example of the Beijing authorities' crackdown on free speech in #HongKong," said Tsai in a tweet on Wednesday. Expressing her regret over the detention, she called on the international community to stand up for freedom and democracy in Hong Kong. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the government agency in charge of cross-strait affairs, said the raid and arrests were just the latest measures the Chinese Communist regime had taken to suppress Hong Kong's press freedom, despite stipulations in the city's Basic Law that guarantee residents of the special administrative region freedom of speech, press, and publication, said Focus Taiwan. As many as seven current or former senior staff members of the Hong Kong online media company were arrested on suspicion of breaching the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance by conspiring to publish seditious publications, reported Hong Kong Free Press. The development comes a day before as Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai and six other former staff members of the tabloid Apple Daily are set to face an additional sedition charge, under the Beijing-imposed national security law. (ANI)
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