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
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.
“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.
“So he felt that after the international [political] landscape had changed, the way we approached news and commentary articles should also change accordingly.”
Yeung said Lai felt the United States was “flipping the table” and trying to steer its allies away from Beijing by waging “not just a trade war, but a full-scale war” over trade and other aspects.
The US-China trade war began on July 6, 2018, when the US placed 25 per cent duties on US$34 billion worth of imports from China, the first in a series of tariffs imposed during 2018 and 2019.
It continued to escalate, with the US and China imposing various tariffs on products imported from the other country until both sides signed a phase-one trade deal in 2020. But tensions over trade have continued to feature prominently in relations between the two countries.
The court earlier heard testimony from Apple Daily publisher Cheung Kim-hung and associate publisher Chan Pui-man, who both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and agreed to testify for the prosecution in exchange for lesser sentences.
Jimmy Lai had final say on Apple Daily’s reportage, Hong Kong court hears
Yeung, who oversaw the tabloid’s commentary section, said Lai once instructed him to engage overseas contributors who were more critical of the national security law.
“They were less concerned about raising questions or levelling sharp criticisms against the government,” the ex-editorial writer said.
Yeung also recalled Lai’s request to look for writers who had knowledge about claimed power struggles within the Chinese Communist Party, but he failed to identify one to the tycoon’s liking.
The witness highlighted three dinner gatherings he had with Lai and other Apple Daily authors in May and June of 2020, where the tycoon explained what he intended to do as the national security law loomed.
Lai wanted to use social media to arouse international interest in the alleged suppression of Hongkongers’ human rights and keep Beijing and the Hong Kong government in check, the court heard.
The mogul enlisted columnist Simon Lee Chao-fu to manage his account on Twitter, now known as X, but he quit “because he felt some publications on [Lai’s] Twitter [account] might violate the national security law, and as Mr Lai had publicly said [Lee] was responsible for it, he felt there was a risk”, Yeung said.
Hong Kong judge questions whether Lai’s ‘supportive words’ proof of conspiracy
On another occasion, Lai expressed his vision for Apple Daily’s new English digital platform, saying it could help American readers understand Hong Kong’s situation and pressure Washington to take stronger action.
“To take what action?” prosecutor Ivan Cheung Cheuk-kan said.
The witness continued that Lai, when asked by dinner guests whether he would be taken into custody, said he was not afraid and added his arrest would be testament to Beijing’s suppression of human rights and press freedom.
“He believed the United States, Britain and Europe would not just sit and watch, but imposed sanctions [on the mainland and Hong Kong]. Overall [he felt] that could improve Hong Kong’s human rights conditions,” he said.
The trial continues on Tuesday.
