Hong Kong Apple Daily Running Low On Cash

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper has enough cash on hand to continue operating as normal only for a couple of weeks, according to Bloomberg citing a person familiar, after authorities used a sweeping national security law to freeze company assets and arrest top editors and executives.

To continue print operations and pay staff, the quarter-century-old tabloid is planning on seeking relief through the courts and is also looking to use its Taiwan operation to manage digital donations through GoFundMe.com and PayPal, said the person, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of a police investigation into the company.

Executives are now examining the practicalities of keeping the newspaper running, including checking supplies of ink and paper in its warehouse, the person said. It’s unclear how the newspaper can pay staff and even whether regular suppliers and vendors will continue doing business with it, the person added, after local news outlet HK01 reported that authorities warned more than a half dozen banks not to deal with the company’s bank accounts.

It’s uncertain if the newspaper can access that cash given the various court orders and warnings to financial institutions to avoid handling accounts linked to alleged national security violations.

Some staffers are concerned about getting paid and planning to leave for other jobs after the raid on Thursday, according to three reporters who asked not to be identified. They are also worried that companies or media outlets won’t hire anyone who worked at Apple Daily.

Roughly 500 police officers on Thursday descended on the headquarters of Apple Daily, which is owned by the now-jailed democracy activist and Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai. Police searched the company’s offices, barred journalists from their desks and eventually carted away nearly 40 computers belonging to journalists, the paper said.

A Hong Kong court on Saturday denied bail to Editor-in-Chief Ryan Law, and Cheung Kim-hung, the newspaper’s publisher and chief executive officer of Next Digital. The others arrested included Chief Operating Officer Royston Chow and Apple Daily deputy editors, Chan Pui-man and Cheung Chi-wai.

The Apple Daily arrests generated criticism from the U.S. and Japan, as well as human-rights groups and press-freedom advocates. The move marked an escalation by China, which warned journalists that press freedom wasn’t a “shield” and that their “professional status” wouldn’t protect them if they violated the national security law.