Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai said sanctions would unleash ‘perfect storm’ in Beijing in 2020: court
Court hears ex-media boss gave a series of interviews with major foreign media outlets calling for tough action against Beijing
Former Hong Kong media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has sought to explain his past statements on the national security law expressed in articles and interviews with foreign media outlets before the legislation took effect, as he returned to court on Tuesday for a ninth day of verbal testimony in his high-profile trial.
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.
Defence lawyer Steven Kwan has asked his client, who has so far spent eight days in the witness box, to clarify the remarks he made in several interviews and opinion pieces in 2019 and 2020.
Lai in July 2019 made comments to draw US observers’ attention to the ongoing tensions between Beijing and Washington, which he described as a “cold war”. He urged the West to win the battle by using its “moral authority” – values that the democratic institutions celebrated.
He told the court on Monday that he meant the conflict was “a war of competing values, not weapons”.
On a separate Taiwanese broadcast show aired in May 2020, Lai made another remark saying he wanted the United States and the Central Intelligence Agency to influence Hong Kong.
Lai explained to the judges he just meant to call for support from the US, adding no foreign authorities had interfered in the city’s protests.
