Hong Kong Police Detain Apple Daily Journalist At Airport

Less than a week after Jimmy Lai's Apple Daily was forced to close following a crackdown by Beijing unease is spreading to other pro-democracy news media in Hong Kong. And Hong Kong police arrested one of Apple's journalists at the international airport while attempting to leave the city.

Reports were unable to confirm Monday couldn't confirm if the arrested man was editorial writer Fung Wai-kong. The South China Morning Post and online news outlet Citizen News cited unidentified sources who said Fung was arrested on a suspected national security charge.

Fung would be the seventh Apple executive to be arrested under a new national security law in recent weeks. Fung could not be contacted for comment. It was not immediately known if he had legal representation. Next Digital, the publisher of Apple Daily, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Hong Kong officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Twitter, former Apple Daily journalist Jack Hazelwood said Fung was trying to board a plane to Britain and called on British authorities to take action.

In a statement, Hong Kong police said it held Sunday night a 57-year-old man at Hong Kong International Airport for "conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security," without identifying Fung.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association denounced the Hong Kong authorities for targeting journalists.

Meanwhile, The Stand News announced the resignations of its directors - including former pro-democracy politician Margaret Ng and singer-activist Denise Ho. Separately, the publication said it would take down some blog posts, commentaries, reader submissions and even stop taking reader donations. The changes would help "protect all supporters, authors and editors, and to reduce the risks of all parties," according to its website.

Apple Daily printed 1 million copies of its final edition Thursday. The company was forced to close when Hong Kong authorities froze its assets and detained its editor-in-chief and top executives.

Owner Lai, a China critic, is on trial after being charged with collusion with foreign forces, which carries up to life in jail.