Hong Kong Citizens Queued Overnight... Tearful Closure of Apple Daily

Waiting Since the Evening Before to Buy the Last Newspaper

Hong Kong citizens are lining up in front of newsstands on the 23rd to purchase the last edition of Apple Daily.
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] "I lined up from 10 p.m. the previous night. I plan to buy about 10 copies, including some for my friends."

In the early hours past midnight on the 24th, a citizen standing at the front of the queue in front of a newsstand in Hong Kong to buy the last edition of Apple Daily said this.

Hong Kong citizens created a spectacular scene by lining up for hours in front of newsstands across Hong Kong from the previous evening to buy the last edition of Apple Daily, which announced its closure that day, reported the South China Morning Post (SCMP). The pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily ceased publication after 26 years with the edition published in the early hours of that day.

Some newsstands anticipated the surge in demand and increased their order quantities early. An owner of a newsstand in the Mong Kok area said, "We ordered 8,000 copies, which is more than usual." The newspapers, which usually arrive around 1:30 a.m., began to be sold from 12:55 a.m. that day.

On the 23rd, reporters and staff of Apple Daily responded to supporters' cheers by waving their phones with flashlights on. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

At the same time, reporters who had finished their deadlines at the Apple Daily editorial office shed tears and exchanged final farewells. The editorial office was filled with local and foreign media trying to document the end of Apple Daily.

Supporters gathered at the Apple Daily building, shouting slogans such as "Apple Daily, keep going! Hong Kong, keep going!" while waving their phones with flashlights on. Journalists and staff responded by waving their phones with flashlights on as well. Their images were featured on the front page of Apple Daily's last edition. Some staff came out to the main entrance of the building and handed out the last newspapers to supporters for free.

On the front page of the last edition of Apple Daily on the 24th, images of supporters were featured. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Apple Daily announced on its website the previous day, "We will stop operations as of midnight today," and "the 24th will be the last print publication day." This was about an hour after the board of directors of its parent company, Next Digital, announced that "the newspaper dated Saturday the 26th will be the last at the latest." The management of Apple Daily moved up the closure date by two days due to growing safety concerns for staff, including the additional arrest of a columnist on that day.

Apple Daily was founded in June 1995 by Jimmy Lai, the founder of the clothing brand Giordano. Lai started his media business after being shocked by the bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests in 1989. After Tung Chee-hwa, the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong, took office in 2002, Apple Daily began to sharply criticize the Chinese and Hong Kong governments. It gained prominence during the 2014 Umbrella Movement demanding direct election of the Chief Executive and the 2019 protests against the extradition bill.

Jimmy Lai, founder of Apple Daily
[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

After the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law, Apple Daily became a primary target of the authorities. Lai, who was arrested about a month after the law was enacted in August last year, was sentenced to 20 months in prison for organizing and participating in illegal assemblies. The authorities froze his assets worth 500 million Hong Kong dollars (approximately 72.7 billion KRW) and company assets worth 18 million Hong Kong dollars (about 2.6 billion KRW). Due to such pressure from the authorities, Apple Daily eventually closed, resulting in about 800 people losing their jobs.

The Hong Kong Ming Pao newspaper said the previous day, "Apple Daily's closure is the result of political struggle," and "the authorities made operation impossible by cutting off its funding." The Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) reported, "Hong Kong's only pro-democracy newspaper has shut down."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.