US Officials, Rights Groups Rebuke Hong Kong’s Silencing of Another Independent Media

'If you just won't report, I don't think that is a problem,' HK official tells journalists

Editor of "Stand News" Patrick Lam, second from left, is arrested by police officers in Hong Kong on Dec. 29, 2021. Vincent Yu/AP Photo

The shuttering of yet another independent media in Hong Kong is raising alarm among world officials and rights groups, who urged the international community to help safeguard what little freedom is left in the once vibrant city.

Over 200 national security officers on Dec. 29 raided the offices of prominent pro-democracy outlet Stand News, arresting six of its current and former executives, and accusing them of engaging in the “conspiracy to publish seditious publications.”