Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai urged US to start ‘war of competing values’ against Beijing

Former media boss admits he wanted US ‘moral authority’ to pressure Beijing and he became ‘desperate’ for ‘any support’ after security law

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Jimmy Lai was giving evidence for the eighth day at West Kowloon Court. Photo: Sun Yeung

Published: 8:32pm, 2 Dec 2024

Former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has admitted he called on the US to use its “moral authority” to start a “war of competing values” against mainland China, as he underscored he was “desperate” for international support after Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong.

Lai told West Kowloon Court on Monday he wanted to add “a new dimension” to the US-China trade war initiated by then American president Donald Trump in 2018, with the hope of forcing Beijing to respect what he called “international” values such as freedom and human rights.

The 77-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid said he had been determined to attract support from overseas after the security law took effect in June 2020, even though he knew the legislation’s implementation could not be halted.

He said he had been interested to know how foreign governments would react to the law after the city began enforcing it, as he believed their response could keep in check what he saw as Beijing’s encroachment on fundamental freedoms.

“Just to make sure Hong Kong’s freedom is not eroded as bad as possible, as bad as it would be,” Lai said. “I mean we’re desperate, you know, any support would be good.”

Giving evidence in his high-profile trial on sedition and foreign collusion charges for the eighth day, Lai also explained his thinking behind statements he made in articles and interviews after the outbreak of anti-government protests in 2019.

Lai referred to comments he made to a US forum in July 2019, in which he depicted tensions between Beijing and Washington as a modern-day cold war.