It didn’t start as a tragedy for most. It began in 1995. Jimmy Lai launched Apple Daily with a singular, aggressive goal: to be the loudest voice in Hong Kong’s media landscape. He didn’t just report the news. He shaped it. He turned the tabloid into a weapon against authority.
For years, it thrived on controversy. It targeted the Chinese government with relentless criticism. It backed the people on the streets. When the Umbrella Movement erupted in 2014, the paper was there. When the massive protests shook the city in 2019, Apple Daily was the megaphone. Its front pages were filled with images of unrest and headlines that challenged Beijing’s narrative.
Then came June 2020. The National Security Law hit Hong Kong like a hammer. Suddenly, the lines were drawn. Supporting protests wasn’t just editorial choice. It was a crime.
The end didn’t come with a whimper. It came with a raid. In early June 2021, Chinese police descended on Apple Daily ’s offices. They seized hard drives. They arrested editors. They arrested Jimmy Lai. The message was clear. This publication was no longer just a business. It was an enemy of the state.
The shutdown was immediate. The website went dark. The print edition vanished. For millions of readers, it was the silencing of one of the last independent voices left in Hong Kong. The era of Apple Daily was over. The silence it left behind was deafening.
