Editor’s note for Thursday, June 17, 2021
A note from the editor of today's The China Project Access newsletter.
My thoughts today:
Today, police in Hong Kong arrested five editors of the Apple Daily, the pro-democracy tabloid whose owner, Jimmy Lai (้ปๆบ่ฑ Lรญ Zhรฌyฤซng), is already in prison on national security charges. The editors were charged with โcolluding with foreign powers [under] the sweeping national security law โ the first time the legislation has been used against the press,โ reports the Associated Press.
We said that press freedom in Hong Kong died on October 5, 2018, when the territory for the first time refused to renew the visa of a foreign correspondent, apparently on political grounds. The crackdown on Apple Daily is a sign that we are entering the end game.
How long can it be before the South China Morning Post and even the tiny Hong Kong Free Press start feeling Beijingโs icy breath on their necks?
Our word of the day is China takes another step to becoming a space superpower (literally, โaerospace strong countryโ ไธญๅฝๅ่ชๅคฉๅผบๅฝๅ่ฟ่ฟไบไธๆญฅ zhลngguรณ xiร ng hรกngtiฤn qiรกngguรณ yรฒu mร ijรฌn le yฤซ bรน).
Academic job opportunity: The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is seeking a candidate with a Ph.D. in one of the social sciences, the humanities, or a closely related field to help with its work on China in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
โJeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief
