This article by Jason Rezaian is published by The Washington Post. Here is an excerpt:

The closure of Hong Kong’s Apple Daily and the arrest of its journalists was another disgraceful chapter in the startling rollback of media freedoms across Asia in recent years. It’s only likely to get worse.

In the ongoing clash between the United States and China, future generations may very well look back on what’s happening right now in Hong Kong as a decisive front.

Not only does it point to China’s already outsize regional influence, it also underscores America’s own waning ability to do much in the face heavy-handed tactics aimed at civil society. The United States has lost so much of its moral authority in recent years, and our defense of press freedom as a global ideal has been an obvious casualty in this struggle.

Read the full story here.