Two Hong Kongers accused of being part of a group that campaigned for international sanctions against China yesterday pleaded guilty under the territory’s National Security Law in a case that is linked to jailed pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英).
China imposed the sweeping security legislation last year to wipe out dissent after Hong Kong was rocked by huge and often violent democracy protests.
More than 130 people, including many of Hong Kong’s best-known democracy advocates, have since been arrested under the law.
Photo: Reuters
Democracy activist Andy Li (李宇軒), 31, and paralegal Chan Tsz-wah (陳梓華), 30, admitted to a charge of “colluding with foreign forces to endanger China’s national security.”
Prosecutors said they were part of a group that organized the publishing of adverts and articles in overseas newspapers calling for sanctions against China.
They were in custody ahead of their plea.
Little has been heard in open court about the case against the duo, but they are part of a group of people linked to Lai, who is facing the same national security charge.
Authorities have accused Lai, 73, of running a “criminal syndicate” that lobbied for international sanctions against China over its crackdown in Hong Kong.
At yesterday’s hearing, prosecutors read out a summary of the allegations against the two defendants. In it, they accused Lai and his American aide, Mark Simon, of being “masterminds and financial support behind the scene and at the highest level of the syndicate.”
Chan allegedly delivered Lai and Simon’s instructions to Li.
Simon left Hong Kong last year and has previously described the prosecution against Lai and others as a political witch hunt against Beijing’s critics.
In an e-mail, he said he believed that Li and Chan “are making statements under great duress, with questionable legal representation, and with Andy still having charges in China over his head.”
Lai’s newspaper Apple Daily closed in June after authorities used the security law to freeze its assets over the content of the tabloid’s reporting.
Li was one of 12 Hong Kongers who last year made a failed attempt to flee Hong Kong by speedboat for Taiwan.
They were intercepted by the Chinese coast guard and held in detention until their conviction at a closed hearing for illegal border crossing.
The group were eventually returned to Hong Kong custody.
Charges of Li and Chan assisting offenders over the fugitives case have been shelved by the prosecution as the pair pleaded guilty to the collusion offenses.
They were remanded back into custody following their plea with the next hearing scheduled for January.
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole
RSS