The United States president had urged Beijing to stop targeting the independent press and to release detained journalists and media executives.
China on Friday rejected United States President Joe Biden’s remarks that the closure of Hong Kong’s Apple Daily newspaper showed “intensifying repression” by Beijing in the semi-autonomous city, Reuters reported. The pro-democracy newspaper published its last edition on Thursday after five editors and executives were arrested under a new national security law and millions of dollars in assets were frozen. Last year, China’s ruling Communist Party passed the national security law to punish anything the authorities deem to be subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
