Hong Kong media tycoon arrested

Hong Kong: Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was arrested on Monday and led in handcuffs through his newspaper office as police raided the building, part of a sweeping crackdown on dissent since China imposed a security law on the city.

Lai, 71, was among seven people detained on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces -- one of the new national security offences -- and fraud in an operation targeting his Next Digital publishing group.

It was the latest police operation against dissidents under the sweeping new law introduced at the end of June. Two of Lai's sons were among those detained, a police source told AFP.

The most serious national security crimes carry up to life in jail. Journalists working at Lai's Apple Daily took to Facebook to broadcast dramatic footage of some 200 police officers conducting the raid, and the newspaper's chief editor Law Wai-kwong demanding a warrant from officers.