BEIJING: Two Hong Kong journalists have been jailed in China for running an “illegal business” that sent political magazines to the mainland, one of their lawyers said Tuesday, as Beijing cracks down on press freedoms in the semi-autonomous territory.
Publisher Wang Jianmin, 62, was jailed for five years and three months and editor-in-chief Guo Zhongxiao was given two years and three months by the court in Shenzhen, Wang’s lawyer told AFP.
“The two both admitted guilt to the court and said they ‘will not appeal’,” said Chen Nansha.
The sentences come after five booksellers from Hong Kong whose publishing house was known for gossipy titles about Chinese political leaders went missing and resurfaced in the mainland last year.
One of the five is still detained and another, who skipped bail and returned to Hong Kong, has revealed how he was blindfolded and interrogated for months during his detention.
Wang and Guo’s magazines are widely available in the former British colony, which has greater freedoms than the mainland under agreements signed with Britain during the 1997 handover.
The pair were detained in June 2014, when Shenzhen police said they were “operating an illegal publication.”
According to reports at the time of their trial in November, prosecutors said their Hong Kong-registered company National Affairs Limited had earned HK$7 million ($900,000) from publications New Way Monthly and Multiple Face.
But the defense insisted that only eight copies were sent to the mainland, all to friends of the publisher, the South China Morning Post said.
Concerns are mounting about press freedoms in Hong Kong, where mass rallies in 2014 for fully free leadership elections failed to win political reform, and young campaigners are increasingly demanding more distance from Beijing.
Hong Kong journalists jailed in China
Hong Kong journalists jailed in China
Pull him off TV: Steve Bannon shuts down Sen. Lindsay Graham
- Trump’s former chief strategist called for the senator to be registered as a foreign agent
DUBAI: Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon called on Tuesday for US Senator Lindsey Graham to be registered as a foreign agent of the Israeli government, escalating a growing conservative backlash against the senator’s vocal support for Israel.
Speaking on his podcast “War Room,” Bannon said Graham should be “pulled off of television,” adding: "This is dangerous… because you have guys like Lindsey Graham and dozens more that are doing the wrong thing.”
In a Fox News interview on Monday, Graham said: “To all the antisemites, to all the isolationists… I’m not with you, I’m with Israel, I will be with Israel to our dying day.”
Graham also urged Gulf Arab states to join military action against Iran. “What I want you to do in the Middle East, to our friends in Saudi Arabia and other places, [is] step forward and say, ‘this is my fight too, I join America, I’m publicly involved in bringing this regime down,’” he said.
In a post on X, Graham questioned the value of a US defense agreement with Saudi Arabia following the evacuation of the American embassy in Riyadh, writing: “Why should America do a defense agreement with a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is unwilling to join a fight of mutual interest?”
Faisal Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News, responded to Graham’s comments in a Sky News interview, saying: “He flip flops so much, it’s actually entertaining.”
“On one hand, he says he will never set foot in Saudi Arabia. The next day, he’s here signing multimillion-dollar deals.”
“I don’t think anyone here takes him seriously,” Abbas added.
He warned Graham to be careful what he wished for: “Do you really want Saudi Arabia involved in this war putting our oil facilities at risk or do you want us stabilizing the energy markets?”
Graham pressed further, warning that inaction would carry a price. “Hopefully Gulf Cooperation Council countries will get more involved as this fight is in their backyard. If you are not willing to use your military now, when are you willing to use it?”
“Hopefully this changes soon. If not, consequences will follow.”
Graham's remarks drew sharp criticism from Bannon and others including podcast host Megyn Kelly.
She questioned on X whether Graham was overstepping his authority as a senator, writing: “When did Lindsay Graham become our president?”
Kelly also said Graham had threatened Lebanon, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, the wider Arab region, and Spain within a 24-hour period.
The problem with Graham “isn’t (just) that he’s a homicidal maniac, it’s that Trump likes and is listening to him,” she said in another post.
