HK’s Apple Daily to Shut Within Days: Jimmy Lai Adviser

An employee checks the print quality of copies of the Apple Daily newspaper, published by Next Media Ltd, with a headline "Apple Daily will fight on" after media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, founder of Apple Daily was arrested by the national security unit, at the company's printing facility in Hong Kong, China, on Aug. 11, 2020. Tyrone Siu/Reuters

HONG KONG—Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily will be forced to shut “in a matter of days” after authorities froze the company’s assets under Beijing’s national security law, an adviser to jailed owner Jimmy Lai told Reuters on June 21.

The closure of Apple Daily would undermine the former British colony’s reputation as an open and free society and send a warning to other companies that could be accused of colluding with a foreign country, media advocacy groups said.