Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai turned ‘radical’ after then-US president Donald Trump launched trade war with China in 2018, court hears

Ex-editorial writer Yeung Ching-kee says strained US-China ties prompted Jimmy Lai to change Apple Daily’s editorial approach as he testifies against former boss

‘Lai felt that after the international [political] landscape had changed, the way we approached news and commentary articles should also change accordingly,’ he adds

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Apple Daily’s printing press. Jimmy Lai radicalised the tabloid after the 2019 anti-government protests, a court has heard. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 4:20pm, 4 Mar 2024Updated: 6:21pm, 4 Mar 2024

Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai Chee-ying turned “radical” after the US launched a trade war with China in 2018 under the administration of then-president Donald Trump, a former top aide has told the media tycoon’s national security trial.

Former editorial writer Yeung Ching-kee explained what he considered to be Lai’s shift in stance as he took the witness stand on Monday to help prosecutors secure his former boss’s conviction.

Yeung, who had written articles for Apple Daily under the pseudonym “Li Ping”, suggested the tycoon’s business acumen prompted him to change the now-defunct tabloid’s editorial approach in response to strained United States-China ties.

“I felt Mr Lai was once a successful businessman who had a very good grasp of the needs and changes in the market,” Yeung told West Kowloon Court.

A prison van carrying former Apple Daily editorial writer Yeung Ching-kee. Jimmy Lai’s trial entered its 37th day on Monday. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

“So he felt that after the international [political] landscape had changed, the way we approached news and commentary articles should also change accordingly.”