Jimmy Lai tells court he could have fled Hong Kong in 2020 but chose to stay
Ex-media boss gave an interview right after the enactment of security law, saying that he would fight for democracy in a ‘different way’
Lai previously spent 11 days in the witness box at West Kowloon Court, denying trying to manipulate foreign policies in mainland China and Hong Kong and distancing himself from global lobbying efforts in support of sanctions.
But the founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper admitted he had advocated hostile responses from foreign governments in the hope of preventing the passage of the national security law.
He also revealed he had maintained regular contact with activists he believed to be influential figures in the 2019 anti-government protests with the ultimate aim of pacifying the violence that wreaked havoc in the city.
Lai, 77, said on Thursday he was “too optimistic” to have still harboured hope for the city after the security law came into force.
He said he did not believe Beijing and Hong Kong authorities would spare him from prosecution despite promises that nobody would be held liable for offensive conduct committed before the new law’s commencement.
The former tabloid boss also pushed back at contentions he believed his arrest would trigger a fresh round of Western sanctions and eventually compel local authorities to review the city’s human rights conditions.
