SWHK also reportedly benefited from the financial might of Lai, who, via Simon and firms under the tycoon’s control, was said to have made advance payments for its promotional material and reimbursed its members for organising exhibitions and inviting foreign politicians to observe the city’s district council election.

Lai, 76, has pleaded not guilty to two conspiracy charges of foreign collusion under the Beijing-decreed security law and a third conspiracy offence based on colonial-era sedition legislation.

Wearing a brown jacket, the businessman nodded and smiled at his family sitting in the public gallery on Thursday.

The SWHK group, according to the prosecution, had launched an international campaign condemning Beijing, the Hong Kong government and the police to further Lai’s chi bao strategy – allegedly to instigate “administrative and economic turmoil in China”.

Articles calling for a hardline approach towards Hong Kong and Beijing were published in the US, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Taiwan, the court heard.

A screenshot of the group’s website displayed in court showed it had urged the government of New Zealand to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and mainland officials, and suspend the export of arms and crowd-control weapons to the region.

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Similar appeals were made to the US and Canada in a series of overseas newspaper advertisements, some of which were also published by Apple Daily, the court heard.

Chau described Lai as the mastermind and sponsor of the group who was “at the highest level of command of the syndicate”, with Simon allegedly acting as Lai’s “agent” who carried out the former’s instructions and vetted requests for financial support.

The tycoon was said to have transferred more than HK$118 million to Simon between 2013 and 2020, with more than HK$93 million further dissipated to “various figures and political parties in the Hong Kong pro-democracy camp”.

Wayland Chan Tsz-wah, a paralegal, acted as a “middleman” who received instructions from Lai and Simon, and allegedly relayed them to activists Andy Li Yu-hin and Finn Lau Cho-dik, who were said to have been the group’s leaders on the surface.

Li was one of 12 Hongkongers caught in mainland waters while trying to flee to Taiwan in 2020. Lau fled to the United Kingdom that same year and has been on the national security police wanted list since July last year.

Li reportedly raised more than HK$37 million in four crowdfunding campaigns between June 2019 and August 2020 to meet SWHK’s objectives.

A financial investigation revealed Li paid HK$9.8 million in publication fees to more than 20 media or communication agencies between June 2019 and June 2020, with part of the sum settled in advance by Lai before the tycoon was reimbursed by the activist, the court heard.

Chau added the group had sponsored Hong Kong students at higher institutions to travel to at least five cities, including Washington, London and Berlin, to meet foreign politicians in a bid to convince them to support the 2019 social unrest.

The group also allegedly invited 19 overseas political figures to Hong Kong to observe the 2019 district council election, including Lord Alton, member of the House of Lords in the UK, and Luke de Pulford, founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.

They both had a meeting with Li along with the city’s former No 2 official, Anson Chan Fang On-sang, and Martin Lee Chu-ming, founding chairman of the Democratic Party, in the W Hotel in Hong Kong that November, the court heard.

The prosecutor said Lai, via Simon and Chan, instructed Li to maintain close relationships with politicians in the US, the UK and Japan.

Regarding his connections with the US, the prosecution said Li met US Senator Rick Scott to lobby the country over concerns about alleged police brutality. Li was also allegedly asked to conceal the identity of Lai and Simon as his backers.

Upon an invitation by former chief secretary Chan, Li in 2019 had lunch with Andrew Heyn, then British consul general in Hong Kong and other politicians, including former lawmaker Dennis Kwok Wing-hang, the court heard.

Kwok is also being pursued by police for alleged national security offences.

The Jimmy Lai trial so far: daily updates on his Hong Kong national security case

Later the same year, Chan invited Li to her office to discuss the protests for half an hour, the prosecution said.

Lai also arranged Wayland Chan’s meeting with Benedict Rogers, founder of Hong Kong Watch in the UK, Chau added.

Lai’s assistant Simon in May 2020 also instructed SWHK to join the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China in the UK, comprising legislators from different countries, Chau said. The group later became the secretariat of the alliance.

The media tycoon continued to promote the alliance on his account on Twitter, now known as X, even after the promulgation of the national security law, to support engaging the international community in launching hostile activities against the mainland and Hong Kong, the prosecution said.

After the enactment of the security law, Li continued to assist the alliance by editing its website and publishing articles, it added.

The trial will continue on Monday where the prosecution is expected to read out a set of undisputed information.