HONG KONG -- Two years before Britain was scheduled to hand Hong Kong back to China, businessman Jimmy Lai, who had made his fortune from clothing chain Giordano, boldly entered the city's crowded newspaper market in 1995 by founding Apple Daily with a commitment to "defy the fear."
Worries about the outlook for press freedom under Chinese rule are now proving well-founded. After two police raids on Apple's offices, the arrests of Lai and several top editors and executives, and the freezing of several of its bank accounts, the cash-starved paper is signaling the likely publication of its final edition later this week.
