Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai admits donating money to overseas groups but denies having agenda
Former media boss goes into witness box for the first time and gives 6½ hours of testimony in his high-profile national security trial
Beijing rebuffed criticism by Western politicians of Lai’s prosecution, branding him as a “pawn of anti-China forces” as the trial of the owner of the now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid resumed at West Kowloon Court on a rainy morning.
The 76-year-old has been detained for nearly four years under the 2020 national security law for allegedly instigating international sanctions, a trade blockade and other hostile activities in a conspiracy involving local journalists, foreign politicians and activists.
On the 93rd day of his trial, Lai, dressed in a green shirt and brown blazer, took the Catholic oath as dozens of people, including his wife and daughter as well as Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the retired bishop of Hong Kong, watched from the public gallery.
In 6½ hours of testimony that covered a wide range of topics, Lai lifted the lid on the expansive overseas network he had developed over the years. Among others, he had befriended former Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen, ex-Hong Kong governor Chris Patten and numerous powerful political figures in Washington.
