Media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying was upbeat and defiant at his trial in Hong Kong on Wednesday, facing down a kangaroo court appointed by the Communist-controlled puppet government to prosecute him under the fascist “national security law” imposed by Beijing.
Lai, 77, has already been imprisoned for almost four years, spending much of that time in solitary confinement. His legal team claims he has been denied access to medical care for his diabetes. And yet, he stood tall in the Hong Kong courtroom, smiling and waving to his supporters and demonstrating a sharp wit on the courtroom floor.
Lai was targeted by the Chinese Communist Party-controlled government as a “mastermind” of the 2019 protest movement. He was thrown into a maximum-security prison in 2020 for the pro-democracy coverage provided by his popular newspaper Apple Daily, which the government shut down in 2021.
Lai, who is also a devout Catholic, refused to flee when his wealth made it possible.
“If I go away, I not only give up my destiny, I give up God, I give up my religion, I give up what I believe in,” he said when he was arrested.
Beijing crushed the protest movement in 2020 by imposing an authoritarian “national security law” that criminalizes nearly all criticism of the government or dissent from Communist ideology. Free nations and human rights groups around the world denounced the law and demanded its repeal, but the Chinese Communist Party responded by making it even worse in March 2024.
Jimmy Lai had already been in jail for two years when the government got around to formally persecuting him under the national security law, accusing him of “collusion with foreign powers” and “sedition.” He will spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.
During his court appearance on Wednesday, Lai defiantly stated that the core values of Apple Daily were “actually the core values of the people of Hong Kong,” including “rule of law, freedom, pursuit of democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly.”
Lai said he became a media mogul “to participate in delivering information, which is delivering freedom.”
“The more information you have, the more you are in the know, the more you’re free,” he said.
Lai rejected several of the charges against him, insisting he never advocated violence, never “allowed” Apple Daily to agitate for Hong Kong to become independent from China, and never tried to use his foreign connections to influence Hong Kong’s government.
Lai specifically denied asking former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to bring pressure to bear against Hong Kong. He said he asked Pompeo “not to do something, but to say something: to voice support for Hong Kong.”
Lai dismissed other conversations with U.S. officials as mere “chit-chat,” and said he did not listen “very intently” when he met with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). He admitted to making “small” donations to several think tanks, religious groups, and pro-democracy organizations.
Lai said he supported Tsai because “Taiwan is the only democracy of Chinese people.” He also described himself as a supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, but said he did not meet with Trump or speak directly with him during his first presidency. He told the court he was hopeful Trump might be able to convince Beijing not to impose the national security law, knowing that Apple Daily would be “finished” if he did.
“Maybe just ask China not to do it or whatever. A call to China, a call to Xi Jinping, whatever,” Lai said when one of the judges asked what he hoped Trump might do.
The leftist New York Times (NYT) thought Lai was just a bit less feisty than he used to be, going out of his way to dismiss Hong Kong independence as a “crazy” idea and insisting he did not have full editorial control over Apple Daily.
Hong Kong legal expert Eric Lai of the Georgetown Center for Asian Law said Lai’s defense team did a good job of making the charges against him look inflated and absurd.
“Jimmy Lai’s testimony shows that the charge of colluding with foreign forces under the national security law is so broad and unreasonable that it criminalizes ordinary exchanges and communication with people overseas,” he told the NYT.
“Jimmy Lai is on trial in Hong Kong, but journalism is on trial in Hong Kong, too,” said Caoilfhionn Gallagher, head of Lai’s legal team.
“His case was designed to send a chill down the spine of anyone who might want to wear a T-shirt or sing a song or post a Tweet or say anything which might stand up to Hong Kong or Beijing’s leaders,” Gallagher said.
Jimmy Lai’s son Sebastien said he was concerned about his father’s health, but impressed by his strength and dignity.
“I’m incredibly proud of what he’s doing, and I think he knows that he’s also doing the right thing,” Sebastien Lai said.
“My father is a very strong person, mentally and spiritually. But he’s been in there for almost four years. It’s completely inhumane,” he added.
Jimmy Lai made his first appearance in court the day after 45 pro-democracy activists were given harsh prison sentences for “sedition,” a grim omen for the man Beijing sees as a bigger threat than most of those defendants.
Gallagher said she believes worldwide diplomatic pressure is Lai’s best hope for getting out of prison, pointing to the example of American journalists Alsu Kurmasheva and Evan Gershkovich being freed in a prisoner swap between Russia and the United States last year.
“With creativity and political will, you can do what might seem impossible,” she said.
President-elect Trump said during a late-October interview that he would speak with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping and appeal for Lai’s freedom.
“One hundred percent, yes, I’ll get him out. He’ll be easy to get out. But we don’t have people that even talk about it,” Trump told conservative host Hugh Hewitt.