{"id":236912,"date":"2022-01-04T15:22:58","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T23:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=236912"},"modified":"2022-01-07T13:32:18","modified_gmt":"2022-01-07T21:32:18","slug":"hong-kong-citizen-news-closes-monuments-disappear-speech-prosecutions-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2022\/01\/hong-kong-citizen-news-closes-monuments-disappear-speech-prosecutions-continue\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong: Citizen News Closes, Monuments Disappear, Speech Prosecutions Continue"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2022 is off to a bad start for Hong Kong\u2019s free press. The Cantonese <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hkcnews.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Citizen News<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, one of the few prominent independent news outlets still standing in Hong Kong, was the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-01-03\/third-hong-kong-news-outlet-to-close-amid-security-law-fears\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">latest to perish<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, announcing its dissolution on Sunday <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2021\/12\/stand-news-headquarters-raided-executives-arrested-computers-seized\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">just days after the closure of independent media outlet Stand News<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Lau Siu Fung and Raymond Chung from Radio Free Asia described how <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/china\/closes-01032022101300.html\"><strong>Citizen News bade farewell to its readers over the weekend<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;Citizen News will cease operations from Jan. 4, 2022,&#8221; the site said in a post to its Facebook page at the weekend. &#8220;The website will no longer be updated, and will eventually close down entirely.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;It is with great sadness that we thank all of our subscribers for their support; we will carry your deep love with us, recorded in our memories,&#8221; the award-winning platform, crowdfunded in 2017, told its more than 800,000 followers. [<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/china\/closes-01032022101300.html\"><strong>Source<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We announced with a heavy heart that CitizenNews will cease operation starting from Jan 4 (Tue). <br \/>To our subscribers and readers, we sincerely thank you for your support. We shall always treasure this incredible journey in the past five years. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/32nSlQFAZR\">pic.twitter.com\/32nSlQFAZR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; \u773e\u65b0\u805e CitizenNews (@hkcnews_com) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hkcnews_com\/status\/1477666040662437891?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Citizen News chief writer and former Hong Kong Journalists\u2019 Association president Chris Yeung told reporters that &#8220;the decision was made within a short period of time. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/china\/hong-kongs-citizen-news-says-closure-triggered-by-stand-news-collapse-2022-01-03\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The trigger point was the fate of Stand News<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u201d Hong Kong Free Press described how another major factor in Citizen News\u2019 decision to shut down was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hongkongfp.com\/2022\/01\/03\/no-other-choice-hong-kong-citizen-news-says-decision-to-close-was-prompted-by-stand-news-arrests-staff-safety\/\"><strong>uncertainty about whether its reporting had broken any laws under the new national security regime<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe cannot rule out [the possibility] that our reports or articles in the past few years\u201d have broken laws, Yeung said on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He added that the outlet had not been approached by law enforcement, but that he heard \u201cdirectly and indirectly\u201d that online media outlets were being targeted.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">[&#8230;] \u201cIf we continue, we can\u2019t report on the news we want to report. There is no other choice but to stop,\u201d Yeung, formerly the chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">[&#8230;] [CitizenNews\u2019 chief editor, Daisy] Li, a media veteran who led the online division of Taiwan\u2019s Apple Daily, said she was not confident that she would be able to lead her team of reporters given the shifting red lines in the media environment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe cannot grasp whether a story or an article or a sentence contravenes a law under the newly changed environment,\u201d adding that suspending the outlet is the \u201cresponsible decision\u201d to make. [<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hongkongfp.com\/2022\/01\/03\/no-other-choice-hong-kong-citizen-news-says-decision-to-close-was-prompted-by-stand-news-arrests-staff-safety\/\"><strong>Source<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">VIDEO: Journalists from Hong Kong media outlet CitizenNews decried plummeting press freedoms as they closed on Monday, saying they no longer felt safe to publish after colleagues at a rival publication were arrested for &quot;sedition&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bLuf4FINlj\">pic.twitter.com\/bLuf4FINlj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; AFP News Agency (@AFP) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AFP\/status\/1478044735000526851?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hong Kong independent online news portal Citizen News said it will cease operations in the face of what its chief writer described as an \u2018increasingly tough\u2019 media environment in the Chinese-ruled city <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/baIpOCEpvj\">https:\/\/t.co\/baIpOCEpvj<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VnahWtQni2\">pic.twitter.com\/VnahWtQni2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Reuters (@Reuters) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Reuters\/status\/1477990628516679683?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Helen Davidson from the Guardian reported that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2022\/jan\/02\/hong-kong-citizen-news-close-fears-staff-safety\"><strong>Citizen News was unwilling to sacrifice the safety of its staff in order to pursue its goal of fearless reporting<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cRegrettably, the rapid changes in society and worsening environment for media make us unable to achieve our goal fearlessly. Amid this crisis, we have to first make sure everyone on the boat is safe,\u201d Citizen News, which was established in 2017, said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">[&#8230;] \u201cReporting fearlessly means we aren\u2019t afraid of offending the political elite, we criticise the authorities when their policies aren\u2019t right, we don\u2019t shy from covering corporations due to business pressure,\u201d he said, according to local media. \u201cBut it doesn\u2019t mean we should have to sacrifice our freedom as a price.\u201d [<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2022\/jan\/02\/hong-kong-citizen-news-close-fears-staff-safety\"><strong>Source<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Founded in 2017, Citizen News ran largely on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hongkongfp.com\/2022\/01\/02\/breaking-independent-hong-kong-news-outlet-citizen-news-to-shut-down-on-tue-days-after-stand-news-raid\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">individual reader subscriptions and donations<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Its roughly 40-person team was composed of recent journalism graduates and veterans from other local media outlets, including iCable News thanks to an influx of award-winning journalists after <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2020\/12\/firings-at-hong-kong-tv-news-network-prompt-mass-resignation\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">mass layoffs of staff critical of the government<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Austin Ramzy from The New York Times described how <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/hong-kong-media-muzzled.html\"><strong>Citizen News provided a valuable voice for local pro-democracy movements<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stand News and Citizen News were part of a flourishing media scene that arose covering pro-democracy protest movements in Hong Kong. They carried few advertisements, instead relying on donations. They were built for online readers, often livestreaming protests for hours on end.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When the protest movement was stamped out by widespread arrests and a sweeping security law, they turned their focus to the courts, documenting dozens of criminal cases against protesters and opposition politicians.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Citizen News was founded five years ago by a handful of editors and reporters with long experience at other news outlets in Hong Kong. The company\u2019s small size sometimes meant they couldn\u2019t match the comprehensiveness of larger publications. But they dug into local issues, often delivering scoops on how the authorities were pressing their legal campaign against the opposition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">[&#8230;] \u201cThey were super-professional in their news analysis, super-rigorous in their fact-checking and also, this is the important part, they were not afraid to speak truth to power,\u201d Mr. Tsui [Lokman Tsui, former journalism professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong,] said. \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s doing them in right now.\u201d [<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/hong-kong-media-muzzled.html\"><strong>Source<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As a diasporic HKer, I&#39;d relied on RTHK&#39;s \u93d7\u93d8\u96c6, Stand News, and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hkcnews_com?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@hkcnews_com<\/a> to stay as close to HK as possible, both politically and emotionally. Stand News&#39; blogs And special reports were especially illuminating as they featured diverse voices and detailed investigations.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Sharon Yam (\u4efb\u8403\u8a00) (@sharonyamsy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sharonyamsy\/status\/1477641644610658312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It&#39;s really easy to think of them as &quot;just another&quot; media that bit the dust. But Stand News and Citizen News had sheltered journalists from mainstream outlets such as RTHK, iCable and Apple Daily. They were the only refuge  that remained.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Rachel Cheung (@rachel_cheung1) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rachel_cheung1\/status\/1477643328003121152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">many of my students lost their job. many have been seeking refuge, going from one news org to the next, like a perverse kind of musical chairs. one of my students went from cable news, to apple daily, to citizen news. what\u2019s next for her?<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; lokman tsui (@lokmantsui) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lokmantsui\/status\/1477669725639528454?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Many simplified Chinese comments in the chatbox: &quot;Thank you China Team. I&#39;m a mainlander. I&#39;m sick of the news in the mainland and have been following you. Thank you for creating stories of the &quot;real China&quot;. You&#39;ve been wronged by CCP. I&#39;m very sorry I can&#39;t do a thing. Be well.&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/V9JPur08sE\">https:\/\/t.co\/V9JPur08sE<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xMxcnbzBeF\">pic.twitter.com\/xMxcnbzBeF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; K Tse (@ktse852) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ktse852\/status\/1478002181286420482?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">What the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hkcnews_com?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@hkcnews_com<\/a> report does do is show how the national security law blends in with other laws and procedures in Hong Kong and allows the reader to form a view on such developments.<\/p>\n<p>Highly informative, and something that will be missed when <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hkcnews_com?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@hkcnews_com<\/a> is gone.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Aaron Mc Nicholas (@aaronMCN) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/aaronMCN\/status\/1478063860481409032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thousands of viewers tuned in to watch the last episode of Citizen News:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">One thing to note here is that independent news outlets in HK are closing not because of a lack of demand &#8211; Apple Daily sold out on their last days, CitizenNews was (*sigh*) getting readers &amp; viewers. They are closing because they are forced to. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cW6lQLcdQc\">https:\/\/t.co\/cW6lQLcdQc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Niao Collective (@NiaoCollective) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NiaoCollective\/status\/1478018744769204235?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The raw pain and pure passion that the young reporters show in the last episode of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hkcnews_com?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@hkcnews_com<\/a> Another Day in Hong Kong is heart-breaking, the calm resolve of journalists a few years their senior, impressive (disclosure: some of whom I knew as students).  <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uLeW9XDQgM\">https:\/\/t.co\/uLeW9XDQgM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Yuen Chan (@xinwenxiaojie) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/xinwenxiaojie\/status\/1478041436742463488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Citizen News staff left heartfelt goodbye messages for their viewers and fellow colleagues:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cRemember our very best memory,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hkcnews_com?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@hkcnews_com<\/a> chief writer Chris Yeung before the news website cease operation. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one knows what will happen next. Don\u2019t worry. Just remember the happy things.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kFjcu6GGPD\">pic.twitter.com\/kFjcu6GGPD<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Alvin Lum (@alvinllum) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/alvinllum\/status\/1478041286091358209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThis is not my first time to say goodbye to the audience. But to face it once again, it is certainly not easy. I believe many Hongkongers are facing it together, &amp; I believe we will be stronger after many challenges\u201d &#8211; ex Cable TV, Apple Daily, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hkcnews_com?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@hkcnews_com<\/a> journalist Ingrid Tse <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/d3tAHuMUI6\">pic.twitter.com\/d3tAHuMUI6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Kris Cheng (@krislc) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/krislc\/status\/1478031059417808897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">And final episode of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hkcnews_com?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@hkcnews_com<\/a>&#39;s &quot;Hong Kong Today.&quot; One reporter&#39;s farewell message: &quot;Saying &#39;add oil&#39; feels a bit cheap, bc I don&#39;t know where to add the oil&#8230;I just hope we can report, so that we won&#39;t again have ppl going to jail bc of their reporting.&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8w3R3KSJK8\">pic.twitter.com\/8w3R3KSJK8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mary Hui (@maryhui) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/maryhui\/status\/1478024506153529351?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Few media outlets in Hong Kong have remained unscathed since the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2015\/07\/china-approves-sweeping-security-law-bolstering-communist-rule\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">National Security Law took effect<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in July 2020. Public broadcaster <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2021\/09\/new-editorial-guidelines-leash-rthk-to-national-security-law\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Radio Television Hong Kong<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (RTHK) has made a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2021\/05\/timeline-two-months-of-turmoil-at-hong-kong-public-broadcaster-rthk\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">gradual slide<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from watchdog to lapdog. Last June, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2021\/06\/apple-daily-publishes-final-issue-amid-tears-applause-and-fears-for-hong-kongs-future\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Apple Daily<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> was forcibly shut down, and last week, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2021\/12\/stand-news-headquarters-raided-executives-arrested-computers-seized\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stand News<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> fell victim to the same fate. Now, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.inmediahk.net\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">InMedia Hong Kong<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is the city\u2019s oldest surviving independent Chinese-language online outlet, with Hong Kong Free Press its most prominent English-language counterpart. Initium, another Chinese-language media outlet in Hong Kong, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hongkongfp.com\/2021\/08\/03\/in-media-first-hong-kong-news-outlet-initium-quits-city-for-singapore-over-security-law-fears\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">moved its headquarters to Singapore<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> last August. Some <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/uk.finance.yahoo.com\/news\/third-hong-kong-news-company-063604134.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">international press in Hong Kong<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, including The New York Times, have reduced their presence in the city. As one anonymous former Stand News journalist reflected, \u201cWhy has the city deteriorated so quickly to the state that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/80ad6a32-f091-4005-ad2f-c41c53b8e06d\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">even normal media outlets are not allowed to exist<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">?\u201d<\/span> Journalism professor Yuen Chan similarly told Deutsche Welle:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;In many ways, today\u2019s announcement is not a surprise \u2014 it was a matter of time,&quot; she told DW. &quot;But the speed at which these events have occurred \u2014 in a matter of months \u2014 is brutal.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; William Yang (@WilliamYang120) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WilliamYang120\/status\/1478023047206830080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hong Kong government and Beijing\u2019s mouthpieces in Hong Kong have shed no tears at the loss of the city\u2019s independent media outlets. The Global Times <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.globaltimes.cn\/page\/202201\/1243915.shtml\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">cheered the dissolution of Citizen News<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, claiming that \u201cCitizen News has played a notorious role in instigating social divergence and defying the constitutional order of Hong Kong.\u201d Hong Kong\u2019s Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung told China News Agency that he was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestandard.com.hk\/section-news\/section\/4\/237593\/Article-23-and-security-law-push-in-%27era-of-rebirth\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">pleased with the arrest of \u201canti-China agitators\u201d<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and was particularly impressed with the termination of Apple Daily. Some authorities even clapped back at criticism of Hong Kong\u2019s eroding press freedom. Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng stated that foreign criticism of the arrests of Stand News journalists is \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hongkongfp.com\/2021\/12\/31\/stand-news-raid-hong-kong-justice-chief-says-foreign-critics-of-journalist-arrests-are-in-violation-of-intl-law\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">in blatant violation of international law<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u201d Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu, the second highest-ranking official in Hong Kong, threatened to \u201ctake necessary action\u201d against The Wall Street Journal for a recent <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/china-communist-party-hong-kong-dissent-11640816951\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">editorial<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> decrying the CCP\u2019s authoritarian assault on Hong Kong\u2019s media.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">At her weekly presser, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam was asked about press freedoms and the closures in the last week of both Stand News and Citizen News. <\/p>\n<p>Here&#39;s what she had to say: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4hiY569db5\">pic.twitter.com\/4hiY569db5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jerome Taylor (@JeromeTaylor) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JeromeTaylor\/status\/1478195449928773636?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 4, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last week, behind heavy security and barriers to block media access, Hong Kong police dismantled the Pillar of Shame memorial to the victims of the Tiananmen massacre and removed it from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) campus. This destruction of memorials has since spread to at least four other universities. A statue and a wall relief of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/style\/article\/tiananmen-square-goddess-of-democracy\/index.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Goddess of Democracy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> were removed from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/asia-pacific\/two-more-tiananmen-monuments-removed-hong-kong-university-campuses-2021-12-24\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chinese University of Hong Kong and Lingnan University<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, respectively; the administration of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/hong-kong\/article\/3161058\/another-hong-kong-university-set-remove-artwork-marking-tiananmen\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">City University of Hong Kong<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> announced on Friday that it would remove a statue of the Goddess of Democracy from its own campus; and another statue was previously removed from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/asia.nikkei.com\/Spotlight\/Hong-Kong-security-law\/Two-more-Hong-Kong-universities-remove-June-4-memorials\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hong Kong Polytechnic University<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (PolyU), according to Nikkei Asia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u3010Breaking\u3011The New Goddess of Democracy in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CUHK?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#CUHK<\/a> was removed suddenly this morning. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Pb5ifo1lkq\">pic.twitter.com\/Pb5ifo1lkq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Carmen Lau \u5289\u73c8\u6c76 (@carmenkamanlau) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/carmenkamanlau\/status\/1474160777783394315?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 23, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The erasure of the status in campus follows the crack down on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/HK?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#HK<\/a>\u2019s  commemoration of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/JuneFourth?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#JuneFourth<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TiananmenCrackdown?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TiananmenCrackdown<\/a>, and the further kowtowing of local uni authorities to the national security regime. Things that visible are gone, but what is invisible can still remain.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Eric Yan-ho Lai \u9ece\u6069\u705d (@laiyanhoeric) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/laiyanhoeric\/status\/1474182665779691529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 24, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">How a candle can both defy and define the darkness.<\/p>\n<p>CUHK students recreated the \u201cGoddess of Democracy\u201d statue in the form of candle light, after authorities have removed the famous statue from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<p>Photograph taken by Reuters reporter Jessie Pang <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XFNJiulOp1\">pic.twitter.com\/XFNJiulOp1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong. \u91cd\u5149\u5718\u968a (@Stand_with_HK) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Stand_with_HK\/status\/1475131746769276929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 26, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On Monday, a new amendment to the National Flag and National Emblem Ordinance kicked in, requiring Hong Kong schools to conduct <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/hong-kong\/education\/article\/3161963\/new-rule-kicks-hong-kong-schools-hold-regular-flag-raising\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">weekly flag-raising ceremonies<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and banning acts such as inverting the national flag or improperly disposing of it. Local police have assisted schools in training for the ceremonies, some of which will be broadcast to students in classrooms to avoid COVID-related health risks. While the rule applies to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/china\/ceremonies-10122021132454.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">primary and secondary schools<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, local media reported that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.globaltimes.cn\/page\/202201\/1243903.shtml\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">several universities have also held national flag-raising ceremonies<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> over the past week. Some, including HKU and PolyU, erected flagpoles mere days after removing their memorials. Concerned by these and other changes since the National Security Law, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/asia.nikkei.com\/Spotlight\/Hong-Kong-security-law\/Thousands-of-students-leave-Hong-Kong-schools-in-growing-exodus\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">thousands of students have left Hong Kong schools<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to seek education abroad.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Barely over a week after <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HKUniversity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@HKUniversity<\/a> pulled down the Pillar of Shame, flag poles have been erected on its campus to display the Chinese flag. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jBv0a4QSVn\">pic.twitter.com\/jBv0a4QSVn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Rhoda Kwan (@rhodakykwan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rhodakykwan\/status\/1477950596192026627?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Samuel Chu, founder and president of Campaign for Hong Kong, said that \u201cremoving the public statues only <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/style\/article\/hong-kong-statues-symbols\/index.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">reveals the statue-shaped hole in the hearts [and] minds of all of us<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u201d Reflecting on \u201cthe fragility of what we and those who came before us had built,\u201d University of Kentucky professor Sharon Yam called for resilience in the new year, and Hongkongers are already heeding the message:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Resilience needs not be in the form of grandstanding: making do, grieving, caring for oneself and each other, and finding hope in nooks and crevices are all ways in which we can preserve ourselves and each other.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Sharon Yam (\u4efb\u8403\u8a00) (@sharonyamsy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sharonyamsy\/status\/1478107451715166212?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"zh\" dir=\"ltr\">\u3010\u96e2\u6563\u6e2f\u4eba\u3011500\u6e2f\u4eba\u82f1\u570b\u96e8\u4e2d\u7d44\u300c\u4eba\u93c8\u300d\u6490\u9999\u6e2f\u65b0\u805e\u81ea\u7531<\/p>\n<p>\uff08\u8acb\u7559\u610f\u672c\u53f0\u7a0d\u5f8c\u8a73\u7d30\u5831\u9053\uff09 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/q4rZM0Jwk9\">pic.twitter.com\/q4rZM0Jwk9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; RFA \u81ea\u7531\u4e9e\u6d32\u7cb5\u8a9e (@RfaCantonese) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RfaCantonese\/status\/1477797249249853440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">However, citizens continue to be punished for their own commemorations. On Tuesday, Chow Hang-tung, a barrister and former leader of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance, was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/worldNews\/idUSKBN2JE06P\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">sentenced to 15 months in prison<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/01\/04\/asia\/chow-hang-tung-hong-kong-sentenced-intl-hnk\/index.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">inciting an unauthorized assembly<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in 2021 to commemorate the victims of the Tiananmen massacre. Already in jail serving a 12-month sentence for organizing the 2020 Tiananmen vigil, Chow will serve five months of the new sentence concurrently with the old one, giving her a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-china-59864810\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">total of 22 months behind bars<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Candice Chau from the Hong Kong Free Press described how <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hongkongfp.com\/2022\/01\/04\/breaking-hong-kong-tiananmen-massacre-vigil-group-ex-leader-convicted-over-2021-banned-rally\/\"><strong>Chow, representing herself in court, sacrificed her own mitigation plea to share the voices of the Tiananmen massacre victims<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In her mitigation plea on Tuesday, Chow said that while it had only been a little over six months since the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre, \u201cJune 4th has turned quickly from a baseline of conscience to a dangerous redline.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cNo matter how the court justifies itself\u2026it is participating in the project of washing [away] June 4th,\u201d the barrister said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The former Alliance vice-chair then said that there was \u201ca need for the court to hear the stories of those who died on June 4th.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chow proceeded to read out recollections from three families of victims in the Tiananmen Massacre, but was stopped by Chan before she began reading out a fourth account, as the magistrate said that the court was not a place for \u201cexpressions of political demands.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Upon hearing the magistrate, Chow said that those who died in the Tiananmen Square crackdown were \u201cthe real victims in this case,\u201d and that \u201cthere was a greater need for their voices to be heard by the court than my own personal mitigation.\u201d [<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hongkongfp.com\/2022\/01\/04\/breaking-hong-kong-tiananmen-massacre-vigil-group-ex-leader-convicted-over-2021-banned-rally\/\"><strong>Source<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BREAKING: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/zouxingtong?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@zouxingtong<\/a> has just been convicted this morning in Hong Kong of &quot;inciting unlawful assembly&quot; for June 4, 2021.<br \/>This is her second <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/June4?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#June4<\/a> conviction within a month. On Dec 13, she was sentenced to 12 months in prison on unlawful assembly charges related to June 4, 2020<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Kong Tsung-gan \/ \u6c5f\u677e\u6f97 (@KongTsungGan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KongTsungGan\/status\/1478201843507412999?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 4, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Chow\u2019s charge relates to social media posts titled \u201cLighting a candle is not a crime: Stand one\u2019s ground,\u201d and her Ming Pao newspaper article titled \u201cCandlelight carries the weight of conscience and the Hong Kong people persevere in telling the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jessie Pang (@JessiePang0125) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JessiePang0125\/status\/1478220915951345665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 4, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The magistrate made a table (the original is in Chinese) over Chow Hang-tung&#39;s case, giving full evidence that this is about speech crime <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/f3DrBfgk2o\">https:\/\/t.co\/f3DrBfgk2o<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Kris Cheng (@krislc) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/krislc\/status\/1478319969016418307?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 4, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">But the threat, which used to work in other court hearings, didn\u2019t not work perfectly this time. At least two members in public gallery and on one in press gallery stood up and declared \u201cI clapped\u201d and left the courtroom.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Xinqi Su \u8607\u6615\u742a (@XinqiSu) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/XinqiSu\/status\/1478205110195191808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 4, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">13\/ If there&#39;s one thing the world should learn from Chow&#39;s case&#8211;the courts are not independent of Beijing. They ARE components of it. The world has to admit that they are instruments of Beijing, and refuse to give them any legitimacy or endorse the facade of rule of law in HK.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Chung Ching Kwong (@chungchingkwong) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chungchingkwong\/status\/1478297342461853703?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 4, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Inciting to light a candle<\/p>\n<p>Hong Kong lawyer gets 15-month sentence for Facebook &#39;incitement&#39;<br \/>Chow Hang-tung, 36, represented herself in court, was accused of incitement with two articles published on FB and in a local newspaper, ahead of June 4, 2021.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/t9yTMritTi\">https:\/\/t.co\/t9yTMritTi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Charles Mok \u83ab\u4e43\u5149 (@charlesmok) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/charlesmok\/status\/1478295366806163459?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 4, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2022 is off to a bad start for Hong Kong\u2019s free press. The Cantonese Citizen News, one of the few prominent independent news outlets still standing in Hong Kong, was the latest to perish, announcing its dissolution on Sunday just days after the closure of independent media outlet Stand News. Lau Siu Fung and Raymond [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1099,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7799,20,35,10,14744,17753,5],"tags":[549,4252,17004,18050,17202,330,3691,18106,5926,1960,1842,273,18052,17866],"class_list":["post-236912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7799","category-culture","category-hong-kong","category-law","category-level-2-article","category-recent-news","category-society","tag-apple-daily","tag-cantonese","tag-hong-kong","tag-hong-kong-alliance","tag-journalists","tag-media-censorship","tag-national-flag","tag-national-security-law","tag-news-crackdown","tag-newspapers","tag-patriotic-education","tag-press-freedom","tag-tiananmen-massacre","tag-tiananmen-vigil","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.9 (Yoast SEO v23.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Hong Kong: Citizen News Closes, Monuments Disappear, Speech Prosecutions Continue<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2022\/01\/hong-kong-citizen-news-closes-monuments-disappear-speech-prosecutions-continue\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hong Kong: Citizen News Closes, Monuments Disappear, Speech Prosecutions Continue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"2022 is off to a bad start for Hong Kong\u2019s free press. The Cantonese Citizen News, one of the few prominent independent news outlets still standing in Hong Kong, was the latest to perish, announcing its dissolution on Sunday just days after the closure of independent media outlet Stand News. 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