Written by 
Jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai has denied making any indirect calls for sanctions on Hong Kong after the Beijing-imposed national security law took effect in 2020. There was no way to “conceal” such calls, he said.
The tycoon, who turned 77 last Sunday, was brought before three handpicked national security judges on Monday to continue his testimony in the landmark case against him and three companies – including defunct newspaper Apple Daily – which he founded in 1995.
Lai is on trial for two charges of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the Beijing-imposed security law and a third count of conspiring to publish “seditious” materials under colonial legislation. He has been detained since December 2020. Since then, he has been convicted of charges relating to fraud and participation in unauthorised demonstrations.
Twitter management
During the hearing on Monday, Day 105 of the trial, the defence examined Lai’s communication records with his aide Mark Simon, senior staff of Apple Daily, and former newspaper columnist Simon Lee. The messages were extracted from chats that took place on the first few days after the national security law came into force on June 30, 2020.
According to the media mogul, Lee was unwilling to continue managing his account on Twitter, now known as X, after the security legislation was passed. Lee agreed to help Lai draft and edit his tweets until the tycoon was able to find a replacement, but no one was willing to take up the job until the account was shut down in December 2020, Lai said.
Lai’s barrister Steven Kwan showed Lai a video published on July 6, 2020, in which spoke with online political commentator – Simon Lau – about the national security law in a programme that was aired on Next Media Online.
Concealing sanctions
During the interview, Lai said people’s behaviour would change after the enactment of the national security law. Some would have to “do things not directly,” while others may live in fear they would be reported to the authorities. The media tycoon said the legislation would bar him from acting according to his “instincts,” adding that such changes would make people feel “suffocated.”
“You have to kind of conceal what you were doing… pretend you were doing something else,” Lai said.
Kwan asked Lai twice whether he had called for sanctions “indirectly,” or had concealed such calls after the national security law was enacted. Lai replied “No.”
“I can’t see how you can conceal such things,” Lai said.
Lai told the court last Friday that he halted his calls for foreign sanctions to be imposed on Hong Kong over the security law after it came into effect, as making such calls would be “suicidal” after then.
During Monday’s hearing, Lai said his personal assistant Simon had expressed hesitation over his acceptance of media interviews after the passage of the national security law.
Lai told the court that he could not remember whether he was also hesitant, but said he knew he had to be “more careful” in what he said to avoid breaching the new law. Lai added he later agreed to accept media interviews after he consulted his wife and made sure she was not too concerned.
Kwan showed the court an article written by Lai which was published in Apple Daily on July 5, 2020. The tycoon wrote at the time that he felt “threatened” by the national security law, and many of his friends had warned him to be “careful.”
He responded in the article that – in face of the “lawless Chinese Communist Party” – an individual would “never know when they might ‘cross the line’,” adding that he could only “face it with courage.”
The tycoon denied having an intent to incite hatred against the Chinese government or procure changes to the political structure of Hong Kong by unlawful means through the article. He also said he did not ask other people to disobey the law through his writing.
The trial was adjourned to Tuesday morning.
Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact Us | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps
Help safeguard press freedom & keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team
