Talkative and commandeering as he testified in court yesterday, Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai (黎智英) still seemed like a man used to being in charge despite spending most of the past four years in jail.
The 76-year-old took the witness stand in his trial for collusion with foreign forces, breaking the silence he has kept over five previous trials arising from his participation in the territory’s now quashed democracy movement.
Lai’s case is one of the most prominent prosecuted under Hong Kong’s National Security Law imposed by Beijing in 2020, and Western countries and rights groups have demanded his release, raising concerns over his health.
Photo: Reuters
However, Lai looked well and spirited, entering the courtroom smiling and flanked by four prison officers.
Sporting a pair of thick-rimmed glasses and a green jumper, he waved to the public gallery as he sat in the dock.
From the beginning of his testimony, the tycoon was strident, describing how he had got into the media business “to participate in delivering information, which is delivering freedom.”
His outlets were “always in support” of freedom, he said, describing himself as a “businessman and social activist.”
Clearly used to authority, he was almost prickly at times, such as when asked why he had retired from his media company Next Digital Ltd (壹傳媒集團) after 2014.
“I am the boss, if I want to retire, I can retire,” he said.
However, he described a deep sense of responsibility for his outlets, explaining why he made himself executive chairman of Next Digital just a month before the security law came into force.
“It’s right for me to take up the responsibility of the company if anything happened to it, as an owner,” he said.
Throughout the day, Lai answered quickly and confidently, frequently jumping in before his defense lawyer had even finished asking a question.
Much of the afternoon was spent delving into Lai’s interactions with executives of his now-shuttered Apple Daily tabloid, several of whom have testified against him.
In response to former Apple Daily editorial writer Yeung Ching-kee’s (楊清奇) testimony that Lai had radicalized from 2014 onward, he was dismissive.
“I don’t know how he got this impression. I rarely talked to him... If I was radical, I was radical all along,” Lai said.
He denied dictating editorial direction, which has been charged as being “seditious,” at his outlets.
“I have a very strong personality, but do I have a very strong enforcement in my management? I don’t agree,” he said.
Asked whether he had made donations to US organizations to influence them into taking action against China or Hong Kong, he scoffed at the amount he had given.
“My donation is too small to be even mentioned, not to say to influence,” he said, adding that he had never contributed to a US political party.
Lai’s wife and daughter were in court, accompanied by retired Cardinal Joseph Zen (陳日君), one of Asia’s highest-ranking Catholics who is also being investigated under the security law.
Lai, who is also Catholic, sometimes turned to look at them during his testimony, sitting just a few meters behind him.
As the court adjourned for the day and he made his way out of the witness box, he waved and blew them a kiss.
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
RSS