Laura Harth: An ode to Apple Daily

Laura Harth drafted this op-ed for publication in Apple Daily’s Monday edition. It was pulled following the mass arrests of senior editors and the freezing of Apple’s assets, and so we have published an amended version here.

Yesterday, on Apple Daily’s 26th anniversary exactly, I received word that my regular Monday opinion piece would not be published for the moment, as for all foreign contributors. A more than understandable decision and - as I am sure all contributors would agree - on a personal level I’d give up any and all contributions a thousand times over if it could buy even one single hour of respite for Apple’s courageous staff and Hong Kong’s citizens. At the same time one cannot ignore the brutal political reality. There is an immediate chilling effect, not only in Hong Kong but further afield. A fear instilled in the hearts and minds of Hong Kongers and those loving freedom worldwide, which risks to wipe out our resistance if we do not hold steadfast, as Jimmy Lai so eloquently and movingly put it in his last interview as a (semi-) free man with BBC.

Today we woke up to even more devastating news. Not even caring to keep appearances up anymore, Hong Kong authorities have frozen $67 million USD worth of Apple Daily assets, seemingly in a shameless bid to shut the city’s most vocal voice for hope and democracy down. Unsurprising as this may be, the pain is tangible and mirrored in the long lines of countless Hong Kongers trying to get their hands on a copy that may very well be the last…

For now. For we must not give in to the fear and guilt instilled by those that wish to kill the beauty of Hong Kong. We must and will continue standing with Hong Kong and people all over China and the world oppressed by regimes that abhor life itself. The responsibility to carry on the resistance of the millions of Hong Kongers lining the streets over the past years now falls to us. The parallels with a not too distant past are harrowing. But as Radio London was a beacon of hope then, Apple Daily may and must continue to be one now.

It has been the honor of a lifetime contributing in the smallest of ways to the paper’s incredible history. My most profound gratitude to everyone making that possible and to Hong Kong Watch for publishing what you could no longer.

But emotion rages with every step backwards. Anger, sadness, disbelief. A thunderstorm of sentiments at every new raid. Every single new arrest as if it were the first one, no matter how much this sorry state of affairs has almost become “business as usual”.

Guilt over the ease by which us lucky few, in the safety of our homes far away, can shout on the sidelines while others pay the hefty price.

Feelings of profound awe and gratitude at the relentless courage of those on the frontline to keep going for as long as possible, keeping the flame of hope and freedom alive for all in the very moment theirs is being stripped away.

Add to that list frustration. Frustration over the disregard and arrogance by which some, both here and there, play God over the lives and livelihoods of others. Styling themselves as ‘realists’ - those that are not guided by sentiments but by purported coldblooded pragmatic calculation -, they choose to ignore reality, the very fabric of life. Unmoved by the tragedy they allow to be inflicted on their fellow human beings, they blindly press ahead with their dystopic vision of the world.

For only in this vision can one understand the marvelling and repeated praise uttered this week by the President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Senate, Vito Petrocelli, for the CCPs “success story”. Only one profoundly detached from reality can ignore the discrepancy between the continuous need to crackdown on any and all free speech and the lauded “1 billion people consensus for the CCP”, an affirmation that quickly gained him recognition in China famously balanced state media.

A recognition evidently sought also by part of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs when it ignored the clear stance adopted by Prime Minister Draghi at last week’s G7, and pressed ahead with drafting a renewed three-year plan with Beijing favoring the promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative as the continued basis for bilateral relations. Proud public statements by the Minister of Foreign Affairs reiterated the enormous benefits for Italian businesses and the staggering commercial growth, willfully ignoring the data published by his own Ministry which show nothing but a continuously growing commercial deficit and decline in Italian exports.

If this is realism, I proudly confess to being a dreamer. Dreams spurred by the people who truly move the world:

Every single staffer at Apple Daily, pressing on and showing up for work.

Every single buyer who stood in line and managed to get their hands on one of the 500K copies.

Those that printed them.

Those that sold them.

You are the fabric this world is made off.

I finish with some words from my very first opinion piece for Apple Daily:

“So, dear Chinese Communist Party, we will not be silenced. Your threats have but formed a band of brothers across parties and borders that will continue marching for the inherent values that unite us. And hopefully one day soon, we will all be able to meet in person and rejoice.”

We will keep the flame alive.

Laura Harth has been a regular commentator with Apple Daily since October 2020. She is the Campaigns Director at Safeguard Defenders, regional liaison for IPAC and campaigning for the recognition of the “Right to Know” with the Global Committee for the Rule of Law “Marco Pannella”.