Australia has signed a joint statement with members of the Media Freedom Coalition expressing concern about the future of press freedom in Hong Kong.
The statement, published by the United Kingdom and signed by 21 members of the coalition, says it has "strong concerns" about the closure of the Apple Daily newspaper which was closed after police arrested its chief editor and four senior executives for "suspected contravention" of the national security law
The statement says Hong Kong and Chinese authorities should "fully respect and uphold" freedom of the media, in what it described as being central to Hong Kong's success.