US’s moral authority ‘vital weapon’ that China lacked, Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai tells national security trial
Hong Kong Free Press
Jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai told an American think tank in 2019 that the US should use its moral authority, which was a “vital weapon” that China lacked, his national security trial has heard.
Lai appeared at the West Kowloon Law Courts Building on Wednesday as his high-profile trial, originally slated to last 80 days, entered the 143rd day.
His lawyer Steven Kwan began his re-examination of the 77-year-old mogul after the prosecution wrapped up its 24 days of questioning on Monday.
Lai, the founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the Beijing-imposed national security law and conspiring to publish seditious materials under colonial-era legislation.
Kwan on Wednesday referred to an interview that Lai gave in July 2019 at an event organised by the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, a US-based think tank, which the prosecution had brought up during its examination.
In the 2019 interview, Lai said Hong Kong was “fighting the same war you have with China.”
He added that America should use it’s “moral authority in this Cold War… because they have nothing. It’s like they are going to the battle without any weapon, and you have the nuclear weapon. You can finish them in a minute.”
Both Kwan and Judge Susana D’Almada Remedios asked Lai what he meant by the US being able to “finish [the Chinese Communist Party] in a minute.”
Lai said that he thought the US could defeat them using “moral authority,” which he described as a “vital weapon” that China did not have.
He added that his phrasing was an “exaggeration” and “a way of writing a narrative.”
US senators
Also on Wednesday, Lai denied inviting two US senators, Rick Scott and Ted Cruz, to come to Hong Kong in 2019, when the city was engulfed in the anti-extradition protests and unrest. The two politicians visited separately that year and expressed support for the pro-democracy movement.
Asked by Kwan who had invited them, Lai said he did not know.
Kwan also followed up on the prosecution’s questions to Lai last month about his application for lifting a travel ban in mid-2020. Lai had been arrested for criminal intimidation and was on bail at the time, and applied to the court in June 2020 to temporarily lift the travel ban so he could go to the US and visit his daughter Jade, who was having a baby.
The court heard that Lai was also planning to meet with US politicians during the trip, but that he did not mention that as a reason to the court. The prosecution suggested during its questioning that Lai had deliberately concealed the plan, which he denied.
On Wednesday, Kwan asked Lai if he had intended to mislead the court, to which he said no. Lai said he did not disclose it because he did not think it was necessary.
Judge Alex Lee asked, “Did you think by disclosing that piece of information to the court, that would decrease your chance of having your travel restriction lifted?”
Lai responded, “I think so.”
The court did not lift Lai’s travel restrictions. He was cleared of the criminal intimidation charge in September 2020.
In custody since December 2020
The case was adjourned to Thursday afternoon for Kwan to continue his re-examination. He told the court he would ask Lai questions about records on Slack, which Apple Daily staff used to communicate, as well as Lai’s WhatsApp messages with his secretary Julie.
Lai, who has been remanded in custody since December 2020, has already testified for around 50 days. Earlier on in the trial, six people who were charged alongside Lai – including four former Apple Daily employees – testified for the prosecution against the tycoon.
Paralegal Chan Tsz-wah and activist Andy Li, who were among the prosecution witnesses, pleaded guilty in 2021 to conspiring to collude with foreign forces in 2021, while the former Apple Daily staff members pleaded guilty to the same offence in 2022.
They are currently in remand and will be sentenced after Lai’s verdict is handed down.
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.
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