Six months ago, Pak was a finance reporter for one of Hong Kong’s best-read tabloids. Now, he’s a coffee shop barista in London, after the collapse of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily under a national security probe left him jobless and several of his bosses facing life in prison.
"The shutdown of Apple Daily was definitely the last straw that led to the decision,” said Pak, 33, who asked to only be identified by his first name due to safety concerns. "As a veteran, I simply could not find a suitable position that I would fit without worrying about my integrity and personal safety.”
At least 1,562 Hong Kong civil society jobs have been lost so far to the government’s crackdown on dissent under a Beijing-imposed national security law, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News drawn from scores of phone calls and emails to impacted parties, as well as local news reports. More than 60 organizations including media companies, trade unions, political bodies, and religious and human rights groups have disbanded in the past year, under intense pressure from national security police.
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