US NSA denounces media tycoon's arrest, urges China to repeal national security law

US National Security Advisor Robert C O'Brien, on August 10, urged China to repeal the National Security Law and restore Hong Kong's rule of law immediately. His remarks came in reaction to the arrest of Hong Kong's media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who has been charged with flouting the law. The situation in the city-state has intensified in recent weeks, with the police making frequent arrests under the National Security Law.

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'China is attacking city's freedom'

O’Brien, who has lambasted Beijing for its draconian law, said China was now attacking the freedom which it has promised to the Hong Kongers. Speaking at a press briefing, he also condemned Lai’s arrest and said that the US was “deeply troubled “ by the arrest of a  businessman, publisher and pro-democracy advocate. “Two of Jimmy's sons and several executives from his media company have also been arrested by Hong Kong authorities under the auspices of the national security law imposed by the Chinese Communist Party”, the top diplomat added.

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Lai, a media tycoon and one of the prominent democracy activists in the region, was arrested under the national security law on August 10. Hong Kong police stormed the offices of Lai’s Apple Daily newspaper and arrested the media mogul over suspected collusion with foreign forces. Lai is the founder of Giordano, an Asian clothing retailer; Next Digital, a Hong Kong-listed media company; and popular pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. 

"Jimmy and his colleagues are powerful voices for the fundamental rights and liberties that Beijing guaranteed to the people of Hong Kong, but that it now systematically attacks. As a newspaperman, entrepreneur, and citizen, Jimmy Lai has exercised, celebrated, and defended liberty by warning what Hong Kong would be like without it," O'Brien said about the arrest/ 

Denouncing Beijing’s National Security Law, he said that the law denied the Hong Kongers their “fundamental rights and liberties”. Speaking further, he said that the law also increased the communist party's control over its internal affairs adding that the legislation was “latest violation” of Beijing's commitment to Hong Kong people around the world.

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