Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai ignored objections to his letter campaign to Donald Trump, said being ‘brave’ only way to stop security law, court hears

Ex-associate publisher Chan Pui-man tells court her protests against Apple Daily’s ‘One Hongkonger One Letter to Save Hong Kong’ initiative fell on deaf ears

‘I conveyed the message that this was not very appropriate, but Mr Lai appeared very determined to do this,’ she says

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Jimmy Lai’s national security trial entered its 30th day on Wednesday. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 7:55pm, 21 Feb 2024Updated: 8:26pm, 21 Feb 2024

Media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying brushed aside objections to an “inappropriate” campaign seeking then US president Donald Trump’s intervention in local affairs and insisted it was the only way to stop Beijing from imposing the national security law on Hong Kong, a court has heard.

Former Apple Daily associate publisher Chan Pui-man on Wednesday said her protests against the now-defunct tabloid’s “One Hongkonger One Letter to Save Hong Kong” initiative had fallen on deaf ears.

“I conveyed the message that this was not very appropriate, but Mr Lai appeared very determined to do this,” Chan told West Kowloon Court.

The national security trial earlier heard that Apple Daily ran print advertisements on three separate dates in May 2020 to promote the “Trump saves Hong Kong” idea and encourage readers to petition Trump to block the national security law, which ultimately took effect at the end of the following month.

Chan, a defendant turned prosecution witness, said the initiative would have been fine had Lai run the advertisements in his personal capacity instead of launching it under Apple Daily’s name.

She added her supervisor, former publisher Cheung Kim-hung, was “not very eager” to follow his boss’ instructions either.

But Lai stood his ground, saying in a text message that they could not “pretend to be careful and clever” at a time of crisis.