TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Next Digital, the parent company of the recently shuttered Hong Kong tabloid Apple Daily, will cease operations from Thursday (July 1), according to reports.
An internal company memo dated June 30 that was leaked to various media outlets said the Next Digital board had decided to cease operations as of July 1.
“Although the road ahead is difficult, we keep moving forward. Until we meet again,” the memo read, per Hong Kong Free Press.
Apple Daily had been the foremost pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong until it closed down on June 23, following a June 17 raid by over 500 police officers, resulting in the arrest of five senior executives for alleged violations of Hong Kong’s national security law.
Apple Daily Editor-in-Chief Ryan Law and Next Digital CEO Cheung Kim-hung have been denied bail, and the other three executives arrested in the raid are free pending trial. The paper’s lead opinion writer, Yeung Ching-Kei, was arrested at the airport trying to escape the territory on June 23.
Apple Daily’s final print edition, published June 25, sold over 1 million copies.
Next Digital said it would continue its attempts to regain access to HK$18 million (US$2.3 million) in frozen funds to meet salary obligations. However, Hong Kong’s Security Bureau has so far prevented this.
On Tuesday (July 1), Next Digital announced that the online edition of Taiwan Apple Daily would be sold next month, though the deal has reportedly not been finalized.
The founder of the Next media empire, Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英), is currently serving 20 months in prison for his part in the 2019 Hong Kong protests. He faces more charges under the national security law, for which he could face a life sentence.