Jailed pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai has denied he acted as a “middleman” to help Taiwan re-establish diplomatic ties with the US.
Jimmy Lai in 2020. Photo: HKFP.
During his national security trial on Monday, Lai – the founder of Hong Kong’s defunct Apple Daily newspaper – did not reject the prosecution’s assertion that he helped arrange a meeting between Hong Kong’s former US consul and Taiwan’s then-president Tsai Ing-wen.
Asked by prosecutor Anthony Chau whether he was “happy to be a middleman,” Lai said that he was “happy to help” and that he rejected the word “middleman,” which he said implied that he was acting for the Taiwan government.
“I was not a middleman from the Taiwan government. I don’t want this implication from you,” he told Chau.
Asked by Judge Alex Lee whether he was trying to avoid a label carrying the connotation that he was acting as Taiwan’s middleman to the US, Lai said: “I am trying to make sure that does not happen.”
Chau also showed Lai, 77, his own text messages dating back to 2017, in which he suggested introducing former US envoy James Cunningham to Tsai’s “right-hand man,” Antonio Chiang.
The idea for the introduction was initially proposed by retired US army general Jack Keane and ex-US deputy secretary of defence Paul Wolfowitz, Lai said, adding that he was simply relaying advice from the two Americans to his aide, Mark Simon.
Lai’s many ‘agents’
Keane, Wolfowitz, Simon, and Cunningham – who served as consul general for Hong Kong and Macau from 2005 to 2008 – are among what the prosecution alleges are the many “agents” or “intermediaries” the tycoon was in touch with to call for international sanctions against Hong Kong and Beijing.
Lai has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under a Beijing-imposed security law and a third charge of conspiracy to publish “seditious” materials under colonial-era legislation. He could be jailed for life if convicted.
The prosecution on Monday alleged that Lai “repeatedly” urged Chiang to arrange a meeting between Cunningham and Tsai in the latter half of 2017, around three years before the events related to his charges under the national security law.
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Asked why it was important for Cunningham to meet with Tsai, Lai said Keane and Wolfowitz had suggested that Taiwan could not grow dependent on American “goodwill” and suggested that Taiwan could avoid this, for instance, by purchasing a long-term energy contract from the US.
“We can’t totally depend on America’s obligation to get their support. We have to be contributing to this support too,” Lai said in a text message dated June 26, 2017.
The prosecution also showed Lai his messages to Chiang about Cunningham’s ability to help re-establish diplomatic channels between Taiwan and the US.
The tycoon paid Cunningham for the trip to Taiwan, the court heard, but he denied that the payment was a consultancy fee, and only covered the expenses for the trip. “I can’t ask [Cunningham] to do it on his own expenses… I paid for the whole trip for him to see Tsai, to see if he could help,” he said on Monday.
Cunningham was in Taiwan only to explore the possibility of re-establishing diplomatic ties, Lai added, saying that “there was no consultancy.”
Beijing has claimed democratic Taiwan as one of its provinces, threatening to unify it by force if necessary. Ties between Taiwan and the US became unofficial after the US established diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1979.
West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts in Hong Kong, on September 19, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Lai also denied that he wanted to rally support from the Joe Biden US presidential campaign in mid-2020.
The prosecution showed him a text message from Simon saying that Cunningham could “direct us to the right Biden person who would get [Biden] to say something to support Apple Daily and press freedom in Hong Kong,” to which he replied: “Ok, thanks.”
But that did not mean he had signed off on Simon’s idea, Lai said.
Judge Lee then said that Simon had been shown to have a “high degree of autonomy,” and asked Lai if he would have approved of the move if Simon had reached out to the Biden campaign through Cunningham. Lai agreed.
Lai has been detained since December 2020. Three judges – handpicked by Hong Kong’s chief executive to hear national security cases – are presiding over his trial in the place of a jury, marking a departure from the city’s common law traditions.
