Jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai has said that Hong Kong “is beyond redemption” and that “it is useless to fight” in the city after a national security law imposed by Beijing came into effect in 2020.
Jimmy Lai being transferred onto a Correctional Services vehicle on February 1, 2021. File photo: Studio Incendo.
Lai, 76, on Wednesday told his national security trial that Hong Kong was left with “no room to fight” after the legislation was enacted on June 30, 2020, following citywide pro-democracy protests and unrest in the previous year.
The tycoon was explaining his state of mind in early June 2020 – before the enactment of the security law – when he said he would “fight on” in an interview given to US think tank the Hoover Institute.
Asked by interviewer whether he would leave Hong Kong and what his next move was, Lai said: “Fight on. Fight on. Now it’s not the time for safety. Now it’s the time for sacrifice.”
“Did you intend to continue fighting, even if fighting itself becomes illegal?” his lawyer Steven Kwan asked the Apple Daily founder, who was giving evidence for the tenth day.
“I will not be fighting on an illegal ground because it would be senseless – because once you do something illegal, you are arrested, there’s no room to fight,” Lai said.
“Now with the national security law, no fighting is possible. You know, in my opinion, it’s useless to fight in Hong Kong now, it’s beyond redemption,” he added.
Lai’s response prompted Kwan to remind the media mogul that the line of questioning was directed at his thinking before the enactment of the security law, rather than his present mindset.
Lai has pleaded not guilty to two counts 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-era legislation. He could be jailed for life if convicted.
Police officers walk past a queue of people waiting to enter West Kowloon Law Courts Building on November 20, 2024, to hear detained media mogul Jimmy Lai testifying for the first time in his national security trial. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
The court heard that, in a WhatsApp message exchange with Apple Daily columnist Simon Lee dated June 7, 2020, Lai said sanctions from the West should “concentrate on China” to “water down” the imminent security law – a point which Lai also made in the interview with the Hoover Institute.
Lai told the court that, at that time, “there was still hope that the [security law] will be watered down or delayed.”
He maintained that he was advocating sanctions to be placed on Chinese officials, but opposed the US’s move to revoke the Hong Kong’s special trade status.
Asked if he “loved” China, Lai differentiated between the country and the ruling communist regime: “As a country of its culture and of its people, of course I love China,” Lai said. “As a state being ruled by the communist[s], I could not relate to it.”
“Because the value of the state opposes to my own value,” he added.
Woman taken away
The court also heard Lai had told US-backed Radio Free Asia (RFA) in an interview dated June 10, 2020, that he would persist in Hong Kong alongside “many of us” who chose to “stay and fight.”
The proceedings were briefly interrupted as a woman clapped after a video clip of the interview was played in court. The woman was led away by court staff and was not arrested, according to a police officer on the scene.
Lai told the court that he was referring to “resistance… against China’s encroachment on our freedom,” alongside the people who joined the 2019 protests.
A Chinese flag outside the West Kowloon Law Courts Building in Hong Kong, on November 20, 2024, as people wait in the rain to enter to witness pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai testify for the first time in his national security trial. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
He also said in the RFA interview that he was not concerned about “consequences” and that he was prepared to be jailed or even to die.
Asked if that meant he would continue his actions even if they became illegal, Lai maintained that he was only prepared to face the consequences without intending to break the law: “I don’t think I have done anything illegal but now I have been in jail for four years,” he added.
Earlier on Wednesday, the court heard how Apple Daily published a video of activist Elmer Yuen in late May 2020, in which Yuen appealed to then-US president Donald Trump to withdraw US capital from Hong Kong.
Lai told the court that he did not agree with Yuen, who has since left Hong Kong and is wanted by national security police, because some of the activist’s claims regarding protesters being raped or murdered had “no proof.”
He said it was his “oversight” that the video was published, adding that he did not trust Yuen and had distanced himself from him since June 2020.
Elmer Yuen listed as one of the eight pro-democracy activists wanted by the national security police. He is accused of subversion and collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security. Photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP.
“I was kind of uneasy with him because I sensed that he just wanted to get my connections,” Lai said.
The court heard that Yuen asked Lai to request a letter from Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen to support Yuen’s bid to have Beijing’s top man in Hong Kong affairs Xia Baolong sanctioned by the US.
Lai said he did not relay Yuen’s request to Zen and had ignored the activist’s text messages afterwards, adding that Yuen was “insensitive” to his cold shoulder.
The defence is expected to further examine Lai’s writing and interviews before the enactment of the security law when trial resumes on Thursday.
