Hong Kong democracy activist Jimmy Lai denies inciting hatred towards China in trial
By James Pomfret and Jessie Pang
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai said on Thursday he was against violence and had not sought to incite hatred against China and Hong Kong authorities by calling for protests to defend basic rights, speaking in his second day of testimony in a landmark national security trial.
Lai, 76, a British and Hong Kong citizen and a founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, is considered one of the most high-profile prisoners under a national security law imposed by China in June 2020.
Lai is testifying in the same week a Hong Kong court sentenced 45 leading democracy activists to jail terms of up to 10 years under the same law.
Under questioning, Lai was asked about three articles, including one he wrote in 2019 in which he warned that if an extradition law was passed, another “June 4th massacre” could happen in Hong Kong — referring to the killings by Chinese soldiers of demonstrators in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Lai told the court he had feared Hong Kong’s rule of law would be compromised if a proposed law allowing extraditions to mainland China were enacted, and so called on people to come out and protest.
Lai denied seeking to incite hatred against the Chinese government.
“I just convinced them to come out and demonstrate,” he told the court. “No, I didn’t ask them to, you know, there’s no hate here, no hatred here.”
Earlier, Lai sought to counter allegations that he colluded with foreign forces — chiefly the United States — “to impose sanctions or blockade, or engage in other hostile activities” against the Hong Kong and Chinese governments.
Lai has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and a charge of conspiracy to publish seditious material. If convicted, he could face up to life imprisonment under the national security law.
He has been detained in solitary confinement since December 2020.
Lai was also asked on Thursday about a series of WhatsApp and Signal messages he wrote in 2020 in the run-up to the national security law. The messages regarded an executive order by then U.S. President Donald Trump to eliminate special treatment for Hong Kong given moves by authorities to smother the city’s autonomy.
Lai admitted sending to his colleague and friends via WhatsApp a copy of the executive order.
At the time, Trump also said he would impose sanctions on people behind the crack-down.
Lai denied asking Apple Daily’s ex-associate publisher Chan Pui-man to compile a “shitlist” of Hong Kong officials who should be sanctioned.
“That would be ridiculous,” he told the court, when asked whether he asked former Democratic Party chairman Lee Wing-tat to make such list.
On the first day of his testimony, Lai denied seeking to use his international connections to influence the policies of other governments, including the U.S., towards China and Hong Kong.
Lai also told the court that while he supported peaceful protests, he was against violence of any kind.
He also said he went into the newspaper business given his belief in the core values of Hong Kong, namely the rule of law and desire for freedom.
“The more information you have, the more you are in the know, the more you are free,” he said.
The U.S. government has condemned Lai’s prosecution and called for his release, with his case shaping up as a possible point of friction between the United States and China when Trump returns to office in January.
(Reporting by James Pomfret; Editing by Frances Kerry)