Pro-Beijing media and government officials in Hong Kong have set their sights on efforts to shut down local independent newspaper Apple Daily—one of the city’s few remaining free media outlets. Apple Daily was founded by Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who on April 16 was sentenced to 14 months in prison for participating in Hong Kong’s mass anti-Beijing and pro-democracy protests in 2019. During the opening ceremony of Hong Kong’s newly introduced “National Security Education Day” on April 15, the city’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, stated that the local government would “strengthen publicity, guidance, supervision, and management of schools, social organizations, media, and the internet regarding national security issues,” based on the national security law imposed by China’s ruling communist regime in Beijing last year. Critics say the vaguely worded law, which punishes offenses such as secession and collusion with foreign forces, has been used as a tool to suppress dissidents. Since …