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Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai was not worried about being national security law target

Ex-media boss unsure over funding to paralegal Wayland Chan as assistant Mark Simon could spend ‘a couple million’ without need for approval

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Former Hong Kong media boss Jimmy Lai has returned to the witness box. Photo: AFP
Former Hong Kong media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has provided details about his knowledge of a prosecution witness on the seventh day of his oral testimony in his national security trial.
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Lai, 77, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the 2020 security law, and a third count of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications in breach of colonial-era legislation.

The court on Friday heard Lai explain what he knew about activist turned prosecution witness Andy Li Yu-hin.

A day earlier, the ex-media owner told the court he “kind of” conducted lobbying during a 2019 meeting with then-United States vice-president Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state at the time.

But he stressed that the lobbying to him meant “international support” and it would involve Hongkongers conducting “demonstrations on a moral high ground” and gaining sympathy from the international community.

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He denied allegations from paralegal Wayland Chan Tsz-wah, who became a prosecution witness after pleading guilty to colluding with foreign forces, that Lai hoped for young campaigners to one day help overthrow central and city authorities.

Police stand guard outside West Kowloon Court. Photo: Sun Yeung
Police stand guard outside West Kowloon Court. Photo: Sun Yeung
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