Jimmy Lai's Arrest Backfires

Prominent Pro-Democracy Media tycoon Jimmy lai was released on bail after he was arrested for violating the controversial national security law. Hong Kong reacted to Jimmy Lai's arrest in a way that China never expected. Jimmy Lai's Apple Daily became Hong Kong's biggest media outlet overnight. Apple Daily's stock also jumped a record fourteen hundred percent. In some parts of the city, Hong Kongers were seen queuing for a copy of the newspaper as early as 02:30 AM local time as vendors were reported selling out of the popular tabloid founded by Mr. Lai. Online subscriptions of Apple Daily are also reportedly up twenty thousand this week. Mr. Lai's arrest also invited international condemnation. "I’m deeply troubled by reports of the arrest of Jimmy Lai under Hong Kong’s draconian National Security Law", tweeted US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. "This is further evidence that the national security law is being used as a pretext to silence opposition", a spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Reuters.