PARIS—France is attached to the freedom and plurality of the press, government spokesman Gabriel Attal told reporters on Wednesday, when asked about Hong Kong pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily’s decision to print its last edition later this week.
![A worker packs copies of the Apple Daily newspaper at the printing house in Hong Kong, on June 18, 2021. (Kin Cheung/AP Photo)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F06%2F23%2Fapple-daily-1-1200x800.jpg&w=1200&q=75)
Apple Daily will print its last edition on June 24, after a stormy year in which it was raided by police and its tycoon owner and other staff were arrested under a new national security law.
![Chief Operations Officer Chow Tat Kuen (front 2nd-R) is escorted by police from the Apple Daily newspaper offices before being put into a waiting vehicle in Hong Kong, on June 17, 2021. (Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F06%2F18%2Fapple-daily-1200x798.jpg&w=1200&q=75)
The end of the popular 26-year-old tabloid, which mixes pro-democracy discourse with racy celebrity gossip and investigations of those in power, has raised alarm over media freedom and other rights in the Chinese-ruled city.