Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was arrested Monday and led in handcuffs through his newspaper office as police raided the building, part of a sweeping crackdown on dissent since China imposed a security law on the city.

Lai, 71, was among seven people detained on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces -- one of the new national security offences -- and fraud in an operation targeting the Next Media publishing group.

It was the latest police operation against dissidents since Beijing imposed the law on Hong Kong at the end of June. Two of Lai's sons were among those detained, a police source told AFP.

Journalists working at Lai's Apple Daily took to Facebook to broadcast dramatic footage of police officers conducting the raid, and the newspaper's chief editor Law Wai-kwong demanding a warrant from officers.

"Tell your colleagues to keep their hands off until our lawyers check the warrant," he was filmed saying.

Apple's staff were ordered to leave their seats and line up so police could check their identities as officers conducted searches across the newsroom.

At one point Lai was present, in handcuffs and surrounded by officers.

Police said the search was conducted with a court warrant which was shown to staff.

Chris Yeung, president of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, described the police action as "shocking and terrifying".

"This is unprecedented, and would be unimaginable only one or two months ago," he said.

Apple editor Law later sent a note to staff, seen by AFP, telling reporters to "stand by their posts" as he vowed to get the latest edition printed despite the raid.

- 'Prepared for prison' -

The security law was introduced in a bid to quell last year's huge and often violent pro-democracy protests, and authorities have since wielded their new powers to pursue the city's democracy camp, sparking criticism from western nations and sanctions from the United States.

Lai's Apple Daily and Next Magazine are unapologetically pro-democracy and critical of Beijing.

Few Hong Kongers generate the level of personal vitriol from Beijing that Lai does.

China routinely calls him a a "traitor" and a "black hand" behind last year's protests.

Allegations of Lai colluding with foreigners went into overdrive in state media last year when he met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence.

Lai spoke to AFP in mid-June, two weeks before the new security law was imposed on Hong Kong.

"I'm prepared for prison," he said.

He described Beijing's new security law as "a death knell for Hong Kong" and said he feared authorities would come after his journalists.

He also brushed off the collusion allegations, saying Hong Kongers had a right to meet with foreign politicians.

- Sweeping new law -

Beijing's new law targets secession, subversion, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces.

Both China and Hong Kong have said it will not affect freedoms and only targets a minority.

But its broadly worded provisions criminalised certain political speech overnight, such as advocating sanctions, greater autonomy or independence for Hong Kong.

Critics, including many Western nations, believe the law has ended the key liberties and autonomy that Beijing promised Hong Kong could keep after its 1997 handover by Britain.

Washington last week responded by imposing sanctions on a group of Chinese and Hong Kong officials -- including the city's leader Carrie Lam.

The law's introduction has coincided with ramped up police action against democracy supporters.

About two dozen -- including Lai -- have been charged for defying a police ban to attend a Tiananmen remembrance vigil in early June. Lai and many others are also being prosecuted for taking part in last year's protests.

Last month a dozen high-profile pro-democracy figures were disqualified from standing in local elections for holding unacceptable political views.

The banned opinions included being critical of the security law and campaigning to win a majority in the city's partially-elected legislature in order to block government laws.

Shortly after the disqualifications, city leader Lam postponed the elections for a year, citing a surge in coronavirus cases.

'Night fell': Hong Kong's first month under China security law
Hong Kong (AFP) Aug 10, 2020 - Teenager Tony Chung said he was walking outside a shopping mall when police officers from Hong Kong's new national security unit swooped, bundled him into a nearby stairwell and tried to scan his face to unlock his phone.

Chung's alleged crime was to write comments on social media that endangered national security, one of four students -- including a 16-year-old girl -- detained for the same offence that day.

The arrests were made under a sweeping new law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in late June, radically changing the once-freewheeling business hub.

Chung describes the law in stark terms.

"I think night just fell on Hong Kong," the 19-year-old told AFP after his release on bail, the investigation ongoing.

A political earthquake has coursed through the former British colony since the national security law came into effect on 30 June.

Under the handover deal with London, Beijing agreed to let Hong Kong keep certain freedoms and autonomy until 2047, helping its transformation into a world-class financial centre.

The security law -- a response to last year's huge and often-violent pro-democracy protests -- upended that promise.

Last week the United States placed sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials, including city leader Carrie Lam.

- 'A second handover' -

Despite assurances that the law would only target an "extreme minority", certain peaceful political views became illegal overnight and the precedent-setting headlines have come at a near-daily rate.

"The overnight change was so dramatic and so severe, it felt as momentous as a second handover," Antony Dapiran, a Hong Kong lawyer who has written books about the city's politics, told AFP.

"I don't think anyone expected it would be as broad-reaching as it proved to be, nor that it would be immediately wielded in such a draconian way as to render a whole range of previously acceptable behaviour suddenly illegal."

The law itself was new territory.

It bypassed Hong Kong's legislature -- its contents kept secret until the moment it was enacted -- and toppled the firewall between the mainland and Hong Kong's vaunted independent judiciary.

China claimed jurisdiction for some serious cases and enabled its security agents to operate openly in the city for the first time, moving into a requisitioned luxury hotel.

Officially the law targets subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces.

But much like similar laws on the mainland used to crush dissent, the definitions were broad.

Inciting hatred of the government, supporting foreign sanctions and disrupting the operation of Hong Kong's government all count as national security crimes, and Beijing claimed the right to prosecute anyone in the world.

Hong Kongers did not have to wait long to see how the letter of the law might be applied.

The first arrests came on 1 July, the anniversary of Hong Kong's handover, mainly against people possessing banners or other objects carrying pro-independence slogans.

One man who allegedly drove a motorbike into police while flying an independence flag was the first to be charged -- with terrorism and secession.

The law was felt in many other ways.

Schools and libraries pulled books deemed to breach the new law. Protest murals disappeared from streets and restaurants. Teachers were ordered to keep politics out of classrooms.

Local police were handed wide surveillance tools -- without the need for court approval -- and were given powers to order internet takedowns.

On Monday Jimmy Lai -- a local media mogul and one of the city's most vocal Beijing critics -- was arrested under the new law along with six other people, accused of colluding with foreign forces.

- Political crackdown -

The roll-out combined with a renewed crackdown on pro-democracy politicians.

In July, authorities announced 12 prospective candidates, including four sitting legislators, were banned from standing in upcoming local elections.

They were struck off for having unacceptable political views, such as campaigning to block legislation by winning a majority, or criticising the national security law.

City leader Lam later postponed the election by a year, citing a sudden rise in coronavirus cases.

Three prominent academics and government critics lost their university jobs.

Media started having visa issues including The New York Times, which announced it would move some of its Asia newsroom to South Korea.

Gwyneth Ho, one of the disqualified election candidates, described the security law's suppression of freedoms as "obvious and quick".

"We are now in uncharted territory," she told AFP.

Nonetheless, Ho remained optimistic.

"The people's fighting spirit is still there, waiting for a moment to erupt," she said.

"Hong Kong people have not surrendered."

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France halts ratification of extradition treaty with Hong Kong
Paris (AFP) Aug 3, 2020
France on Monday said it was halting ratification of an extradition treaty with Hong Kong after Beijing introduced a controversial new security law in the former British colony. "In light of the latest developments, France will not proceed as it stands with the ratification of the extradition agreement signed on May 4, 2017 between France and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region," the French foreign ministry said in a statement. The ministry bitterly criticised the new security law, sayin ... read more