Hong Kong's last pro-democracy newspaper announces closure, conceding defeat to China's Communist Party

Hong Kong — Hong Kong's last pro-democracy newspaper, the Apple Daily, will go dark from the end of this week, the paper's board of directors confirmed on Wednesday. The board blamed the imminent closure on "the current circumstances prevailing" in the once-semi-autonomous Chinese territory. 

Those "circumstances" are China's methodical crackdown to silence dissent, including in Hong Kong, a territory that was, until only about a year ago, an oasis of democracy, albeit limited, on Chinese soil. "Apple Daily in its print form will come to an end no later than the last edition on Saturday 26 June 2021," the board said in a statement. With the liberal newspaper's closure, China's Communist Party is dealing a massive blow to press freedom in Asia.