Lai, who was arrested Monday under China's new security law, said pro-democracy activists had to play a long game.

Readers queued from the early hours to get copies of the pro-democracy tabloid a day after police raided its offices and took Lai into detention, the highest-profile arrest so far under China's national security law.

Hong Kong police said seven people between 39 and 72 years old had been arrested on suspicion of violating the new security law, but the statement did not reveal the names of those arrested.