Biden Calls Closure of Hong Kong Newspaper a ‘Sad Day’
Voice of America
U.S. President Joe Biden called the shuttering of Hong Kong’s independent Apple Daily newspaper a “sad day for media freedom in Hong Kong and around the world,” blaming China for “intensifying repression.”
“Through arrests, threats and forcing through a National Security Law that penalizes free speech, Beijing has insisted on wielding its power to suppress independent media and silence dissenting views,” Biden said in a statement. He accused Beijing of denying Hong Kong “basic liberties and assaulting Hong Kong’s autonomy and democratic institutions and processes.” The parent company of the Hong Kong-based pro-democracy Apple Daily announced Wednesday that it would shut down the publication this week.Slovak Defense Minister Robert Kalinak addresses a press conference in front of the F D Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia on May 19, 2024, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is being treated. FILE - Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks during a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, Jan. 24, 2024.
FILE - A child kicks a football in front of a mural of the country's first Black president and leader of the ruling African National Congress Nelson Mandela, in Soweto, South Africa, as the country celebrates Freedom Day, on April 27, 2024. FILE - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, center, dances to music as he attends Freedom Day celebrations in Pretoria, South Africa, on April 27, 2024. FILE - Main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party leader John Steenhuisen waves to supporters in Pretoria, South Africa, on Feb. 17, 2024, at the party's manifesto launch ahead of the 2024 general elections. FILE - Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema at the party's manifesto launch in Durban, South Africa, on Feb. 10, 2024. FILE - Former South African president, Jacob Zuma, sings and dances after addressing his supporters of the UMkhonto WeSizwe, (MK) party outside the High court in Johannesburg, South Africa, on April 11, 2024.
Ella Anthony, left, and her partner Doris Ezuruike Chinons pose for a photo with their dog Paddy, during an interview in their house in Passo Corese, near Rome, Italy, March 11, 2024. Ella Anthony and her partner Doris Ezuruike Chinons show photos of themselves during an interview in their house in Passo Corese, near Rome, Italy, March 11, 2024. FILE - Chris Agiriga, 23, one of the Nigerian men arrested on charges of public display of affection with members of the same sex, walks with a friend on the streets of Mushin in Lagos, Feb. 14, 2020. Ella Anthony smiles during an interview in the supermarket where she works, in Rome, Italy, March 26, 2024.
FILE- The world's largest mud-brick building, the Great Mosque of Djenne, Mali, awaits its annual replastering, May 10, 2024. Former guide Kola Bah, who has been unemployed since Mali's conflict started and now sells from his small herd of cattle when he needs to make ends meet, poses for a photograph in Djenne, Mali, May 9, 2024. The streets of old town Djenne, Mali, once filled with tourists, stand empty, May 9, 2024.