Hong Kong’s Apple Daily published articles in ‘grey area’ of law to promote sanctions, former top aide of Jimmy Lai tells court
- Former editorial writer Yeung Ching-kee describes approach taken as ‘playing with the edge’
- Witness says Jimmy Lai was a ‘generous but cruel’ boss who was happy to distribute his wealth to employees but would ‘burn his people out’
He described the editorial approach as “playing with the edge” – a term borrowed from table tennis – by reporting in a “grey area” deemed to be just within the ambit of the law or which authorities might find barely acceptable.
“[We] no longer openly called for sanctions through my writings or selection of forum page [articles], but by commenting on sanctions and analysing a punitive measure or its seriousness, [we could] express [our] original stance of supporting sanctions,” the defendant turned prosecution witness told West Kowloon Court.
Lai, 76, is being tried on two conspiracy charges of collusion with foreign forces and a third count of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications.
Yeung said the three purported analytical pieces in fact demonstrated the authors’ support for the United States’ initiative.