Apple Daily was a newspaper published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Founded by Jimmy Lai,it was one of the best-selling Chinese language newspapers in Hong Kong. Along with entertainment magazine Next Magazine,Apple Daily was part of Next Digital. The paper published print and digital editions in Traditional Chinese,as well as a digital-only English edition. A sister publication of the same name remains operational online in Taiwan under a joint venture between Next Digital and other Taiwanese companies.
Lai Chee-ying,also known as Jimmy Lai,is a Hong Kong entrepreneur and activist. He founded Giordano,an Asian clothing retailer,Next Digital,a Hong Kong-listed media company,and the popular newspaper Apple Daily. He is one of the main contributors to the pro-democracy camp,especially to the Democratic Party. Although he is known as a Hong Kong political figure,he has been a UK national since 1996. Lai is also an art collector.
Yeung Sum,SBS,JP is a Hong Kong politician and academic. He served several terms as a Legislative Councillor and was the second chairman of the Democratic Party (DP),a pro-democracy political party in Hong Kong. He is a lecturer at the University of Hong Kong.
Cyd Ho Sau-lan is a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Legco) for the Hong Kong Island constituency.
Albert Ho Chun-yan is a solicitor and politician in Hong Kong. He is the former chairman (2014–2019) and vice-chair (2019–2021) of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China,and former chairman of the Democratic Party from 2006 to 2012. He is a solicitor and a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for District Council (Second) constituency.
Lee Cheuk-yan is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1995 to 2016,when he lost his seat. He represented the Kowloon West and the Manufacturing constituencies briefly in 1995 and had been representing the New Territories West constituency from 1998 to 2016. He is a trade union leader and General Secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions,as well as former chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.
Priscilla Leung Mei-funSBS JP is a barrister and Hong Kong Legislative Councillor,representing the Kowloon West constituency since 2008. She was a member of Kowloon City District Council.
Richard Tsoi is a Hong Kong politician and the former vice-chairman of the Democratic Party. He ran for many Legislative Council and District Council elections and was elected as Sha Tin District Councillor in 2003. On March 5,2020,Tsoi resigned from duties after joint petition from colleagues against his criticism of local restaurants being discriminatory towards Mainland Chinese amid the coronavirus epidemic.
Lester Shum is a Hong Kong social activist and politician. He was a leader of the 2014 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and served as deputy secretary-general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) from April 2014 to March 2015. He was a member of the Tsuen Wan District Council for Hoi Bun from 2020 to 2021.
Avery Ng Man-yuen is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. He is the chairman of the League of Social Democrats (LSD),a pro-democracy radical social democratic party in Hong Kong.
Au Nok-hin is a pro-democracy politician in Hong Kong. He is the former member of the Legislative Council for Hong Kong Island from 2018 to 2019 and member of the Southern District Council for Lei Tung I from 2012 to 2019.
Raphael Wong Ho-ming is a Hong Kong social activist and politician. He is formerly the chairman of the League of Social Democrats (LSD) and was one of the leaders in the 2014 Hong Kong protests.
Agnes Chow Ting is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. She is a former member of the Standing Committee of Demosistōand former spokesperson of Scholarism. Her candidacy for the 2018 Hong Kong Island by-election,supported by the pro-democracy camp,was blocked by authorities,due to her party's advocacy of self-determination for Hong Kong.
Stand News was a free non-profit online news website based in Hong Kong from 2014 to 2021. Founded in December 2014,it was the successor of House News. It primarily focused on social and political issues in Hong Kong,and generally took a pro-democracy editorial position.
Fergus Leung Fong-wai is a Hong Kong politician formerly serving as a member of the Central and Western District Council,representing Kwun Lung. Leung ran as an independent localist in the 2019 District Council elections and won his seat with 50.69% of the vote.
The 2020 Hong Kong pro-democracy primaries were held on 11 and 12 July 2020 for selecting the numbers of pro-democracy candidates for the subsequently postponed 2020 Legislative Council election to maximise the chance for the pro-democrats to achieve a majority in the 70-seat Legislative Council.
Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam is a Hong Kong social activist and former reporter of the news outlet Stand News,who rose to prominence for her frontline reporting in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. In June 2020,she announced her candidature in the 2020 Hong Kong pro-democracy primaries,in which she obtained a nomination ticket in the general election that was later postponed. For her participation,she was arrested in January 2021 along with over 50 other pro-democrats on national security charges and was remanded in custody. In December 2021,she received a sentence of six months in relation to her role in a banned protest during the 31st anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in June 2020.
On 6 January 2021,53 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists,former legislators,social workers and academics were arrested by the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force under the national security law over their organisation and participation in the primaries for the subsequently postponed Legislative Council election,including six organisers and 47 participants,making it the largest crackdown under the national security law since its passage on 30 June 2020. The police also raided 72 places including the home of jailed activist Joshua Wong,the offices of news outlets Apple Daily,Stand News and InMedia HK and polling institute Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI),and froze more than $200,000 in funds related to the primaries. These were the most prominent politicians in the opposition camp that had been arrested by the authorities.
Several more pro-democracy organizations dissolved under the pressure of the national security law. The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions additionally cited physical threats that had been reported by members. The disbandment of the Hong Kong Alliance followed the arrest of its leadership under charges of collusion with foreign forces,adding to earlier arrests of its lead figures. Student Politicism also dissolved.
On 29 December 2021,Stand News,one of the few remaining pro-democracy media outlets in Hong Kong following the passage of the Hong Kong national security law in 2020,was raided by the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force. Media executives and journalists were arrested on the charge of "conspiring to publish seditious publications" on a large scale. As a result of the raid,Stand News ceased operations,the organisation's website and social media became inactive,and all its employees were dismissed. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,along with leaders in Canada,Germany,the United Kingdom and United States,condemned the raid.
