INTERNATIONAL: Hong Kong Chief Secretary John Lee has announced on Wednesday that journalism could not be used as a tool against national security and that he supported a police raid on of the Stand News pro-democracy publication.

Hong Kong pro-democracy media outlet Stand News shut down on Wednesday after police raided its office, froze its assets and arrested six people, including senior staff on suspected "seditious publication" offences, in the latest crackdown on the city's media.

"Anybody who attempts to make use of media work as a tool to pursue their political purpose, or other interests contravenes the law, particularly offences that endanger national security, they are the evil elements that damage press freedom," Lee told media during a news conference.

Stand News, set up in 2014 as a non-profit, was the most prominent remaining pro-democracy publication in Hong Kong after a national security investigation this year led to the closure of jailed tycoon Jimmy Lai's Apple Daily tabloid. The raid raises more concerns about press freedom in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the promise that a wide range of individual rights would be protected, media advocacy groups said.