The former executive of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily has said “you can’t kill the idea of freedom” after the paper was forced to shut down. In an interview with EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders” program, former Apple Daily executive Mark Simon said that he believes Hong Kong will continue to thrive despite ever-increasing restrictions and attempts to silence the press from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Apple Daily, Hong Kong’s largest independent paper, printed its last edition on June 24 following a raid on its headquarters and the freezing of key assets and bank accounts. On June 17, Hong Kong police arrested five top executives of the company. Five hundred police officers searched the newsroom for evidence of the company violating the national security law which was imposed by Beijing on the city in 2020. In a press briefing, Hong Kong police claimed that since 2019, Apple Daily had published more than 30 articles calling on countries to impose sanctions …