Apple Daily’s Jimmy Lai says he halted calls for foreign sanctions on Hong Kong after 2020 security law enacted
Hong Kong Free Press
Jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai has said he halted his calls for foreign sanctions to be imposed on Hong Kong over a Beijing-drafted security law after it came into effect in mid-2020, as making such calls would be “suicidal” since then.
Lai, 76, told his national security trial on Friday that he had been “very careful” about calls for international pressure on the authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong since July 1, 2020, the first day following the security law’s enactment.
The court heard that, on that morning, Lai texted senior staff members of his now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper and pro-democracy figures. He called the security law “outrageously stringent.”
“[It is] very draconian and a very severe attack on Hong Kong’s rule of law and freedom. So sad. [Hong Kong] is dead,” Lai wrote in one text message.
“Hong Kong will not have rule of law and freedom, the government will be completely unconstrained, and the pan-democrat camp will be bogged down. It is advisable to come up with a strategy. There’s no room for recklessness,” he wrote in another message.
The tycoon told the court on Friday that he had since abandoned his campaign to request sanctions from the West, noting that the security law criminalises “collusion with foreign forces” and the maximum punishment could be life behind bars.
“It would be suicidal to do so,” he said, referring to calls for international sanctions which he had made in the days leading up to the law’s enactment.
Lai wrote in another text message to ex-associate publisher Chan Pui-man that the Chinese Communist Party had “gone crazy” and Apple Daily had to “reconsider the plans moving forward,” the court heard.
Asked to explain that message, Lai said the content of the security law was “so unexpectedly draconian [that] it definitely would destroy Hong Kong,” adding that his previous belief that the law would be delayed or “watered down” were proven to be “wishful thinking.”
See also: Post-security law Hong Kong ‘beyond redemption,’ ‘useless to fight,’ Jimmy Lai tells court
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.
On the 12th day of Lai giving evidence, his lawyers began to examine the tycoon’s personal communications and actions after the security law came into force at 11 pm on June 30, 2020.
The court heard that Apple Daily columnist Simon Lee, allegedly a co-conspirator in the case, texted Lai the following morning, expressing a desire to stop assisting the tycoon with managing his Twitter account.
Lai replied, saying “you’re right to stay low profile” and that he would look for Lee’s replacement.
The court also heard that Lai had written a piece titled “Letter from a Hong Kong Jail” that was sent to Wall Street Journal editor Bill McGurn to be published in the event of his arrest.
But Lai said the plan was dropped and he eventually asked for the article not to be published.
‘Never wanted to’ leave
The tycoon was asked to explain an interview he gave to the Associated Press in the morning of July 1, 2020, during which he said the “fight for democracy” would have to be done in a “very different way.”
“It has to be different, there’s a new law there, our actions should be changed and our attitude should change,” he said, adding that he intended to continue to campaign for democracy legally.
But he said “discussions were needed” among the pro-democracy camp in order to stay in the permissible boundaries under the security law.
He also said he could have left Hong Kong if he wanted to, despite his movement being restricted by the legal woes he faced at that time.
“I was not allowed to leave Hong Kong, but – if I was determined to leave Hong Kong – there must be other ways illegally… if I wanted to [I could], but I never wanted to,” he said.
The court heard that the tycoon went to assist the city’s Democratic Party in fundraising in Causeway Bay on that day – traditionally a day of mass pro-democracy demonstration in Hong Kong.
Lai said he did not give any interviews during the rally, which was the last July 1 demonstration since.
His lawyer drew the court’s attention to an interview he gave to Fox News later that day, in which the tycoon said the new law had “frightened” people and caused a “sea change” in Hong Kong.
Asked to explain the interview, Lai said at that time that the security law was “very opaque,” but that requesting foreign sanctions on authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing would have “crossed the red line.”
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.
Lai is expected to further detail his actions and state of mind after the enactment of the security law when the trial resumes on Monday.
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