Hundreds of people lined up early in the morning in Mong Kok to get a copy. “Apple Daily, we’ll see each other again,” they chanted. The newspaper was sold out in a few minutes in some places.

The tabloid was forced to close its doors after a standoff with the communist authorities. They accuse Apple Daily of speaking out in the reports in favor of sanctions against China. This would be punishable under the controversial new “security law” that Beijing recently introduced in the capital.

Account has been suspended

Authorities arrested senior newspaper staff last week and froze their bank accounts. It’s just too appalling,” said a 30-year-old woman who was standing in line to buy a copy. “They can break up a publicly traded company within two weeks under this security law.”

The paper will not be published in Hong Kong after Thursday, and the site has also been closed to air. The deputy editor-in-chief wrote to readers: “The Apple Daily is dead.” The newspaper’s closure was criticized internationally by China.