U.S. lawmakers on April 12 condemned the latest attack on The Epoch Times’ printing press in Hong Kong, saying it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was behind the incident, in an attempt to silence reporting that’s critical of the regime.
In the early hours on April 12, four men wearing face masks—two of whom wielded sledgehammers—barged into the printing warehouse and smashed machinery and computers for around two minutes before leaving with a computer.
No staff members were injured during the incident.
The intruders caused extensive damage and the newspaper’s Hong Kong edition has been forced to suspend its operations for the foreseeable future.
The attack is the fifth time the site has been vandalized since its establishment in 2006, and came less than 18 months after four masked intruders set fire to the same facility during the height of the pro-democracy protests in the city. Those perpetrators were never caught.
“The repeated, violent attacks on The Epoch Times shock the conscience,” Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “Clearly, the Chinese Communist Party and its street thugs cannot abide any media outlet reporting the f
