Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai backed second Donald Trump term, told Apple Daily not to target then-US president, court hears

Media tycoon Lai believed Trump would take hardline approach towards mainland China through imposing ‘large-scale sanctions’, prosecution witness says
‘Mr Lai was expecting Donald Trump to strike very soon, so [he] instructed us not to use so many foreign agencies’ reports that targeted Trump,’ he adds

Jimmy Lai trial

Brian Wong

Published: 5:55pm, 26 Jan 2024

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Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying told his now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid staff not to target then-US president Donald Trump in his failed 2020 election campaign because he believed the Republican was more likely to take a hardline approach on mainland China than eventual winner Joe Biden, a court heard on Friday.

Ex-publisher and defendant turned prosecution witness Cheung Kim-hung said the tycoon had looked to Trump to impose “large-scale sanctions” on the mainland, as evidenced in a May 2020 campaign for Hongkongers to petition the then president to “save” Hong Kong from the looming Beijing-decreed national security law.

“Mr Lai very much hoped that Donald Trump could win a second term,” Cheung told West Kowloon Court as Lai’s national security trial entered its 17th day.

“Because Trump had said something along the lines that if China went ahead with the national security law, it would be met with serious consequences.

“Mr Lai was expecting Donald Trump to strike very soon, so [he] instructed us not to use so many foreign agencies’ reports that targeted Trump.”

Jimmy Lai vowed US sanctions bid despite security law, Hong Kong court hears

In a June 2020 text message addressed to Cheung and Eric Chen Yu-hsin, then publisher of Apple Daily’s Taiwan edition, Lai said: “Please ask international desk colleagues to avoid targeting Trump the way New York Times and CNN do. We Apple need the Trump administration’s support to survive.”

Apple Daily had, as a result, toned down criticism towards the Republican candidate during the US election period, Cheung added.

Lai, 76, is being tried on two conspiracy charges of collusion with foreign forces under the national security law, as well as a third count of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publication under colonial-era legislation.

Prosecutors on Friday drew the court’s attention to Lai’s contact with former US army general Jack Keane in an episode of online programme “Live Chat with Jimmy Lai”, which the tycoon used to exchange with mostly overseas guests his views on issues related to Hong Kong and the mainland.

Jimmy Lai used articles to push anti-China agenda in US, Hong Kong court hears

Lai was earlier alleged to have made seditious remarks and called for international sanctions on 24 episodes of the live broadcast series hosted on his social media account and that of Apple Daily.

Keane, one of 19 participants of the show, was among four United States politicians who allegedly had “close and direct contact” with Lai on matters including the timing and targets for sanctions on Hong Kong authorities.

The episode, aired on November 26, 2020, saw Lai seeking Keane’s advice on drawing the attention of the incoming Biden administration to Hong Kong.

The former general highlighted the need to call for the continued support of the US Congress – a remark prosecutors said was proof of Lai’s collusion attempt.

A police officer and police dog stand guard outside West Kowloon Court. Jimmy Lai’s trial entered its 17th day on Friday. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

Cheung revealed that before the episode aired, he had feared the interview could put his former boss in trouble.

“So I was concerned because the national security law had taken effect for so long, and Mr Lai had been arrested and was about to seek an extension to his bail given by police,” the witness said.

He added the move was “too sensitive” and might constitute an offence of foreign collusion, one of four acts criminalised by the Beijing-imposed legislation since June 2020.

“So I recalled Mr Lai’s answer was this: based on my business instinct developed in the past few decades, if they do mess with me – I understand this as meaning the Chinese Communist Party – I will definitely take it to the extreme. There is no room for me to back out,” Cheung said.

Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai behind efforts to get Trump to sanction China, trial told

The ex-publisher said he believed Lai intended to develop connections with prominent US figures as a means to seek the country’s protection and actions to counter Beijing.

Cheung said that following the introduction of the national security law, senior editorial staff at Apple Daily started a chat group on messaging app Signal to discuss “sensitive” issues and whether certain acts or publications might “cross the red line”.

One such discussion was over the addition of Apple Daily’s logo on a “pro-resistance” poster for distribution by the Democratic Party, the witness said, noting that concerns were raised as to whether the move would give the impression that the newspaper was walking too close to the opposition camp.

He said the logo was nonetheless displayed on the poster, but he was unsure whether the posters were given out in public.

Apple Daily turned ‘radical’ after Jimmy Lai met US officials, Hong Kong court hears

On a separate note, prosecutors asked Cheung to explain the role of the late columnist Lee Yee, who was Apple Daily’s editorial writer for more than a decade.

Cheung described Lee as a contributor who Lai had long admired, adding his writings were “all along in compliance with Mr Lai’s [editorial] directions”.

Prosecutors pointed to a June 2020 article titled “The Best Timing for Mutual Destruction”, where Lee praised Hongkongers’ “struggle” during the 2019 anti-government protests and said they wanted overseas countries to sanction the mainland and the city.

The prosecution also said that in the “Nightwalker Whistles in the Dark” article, published two months later, Lee took a sarcastic tone over then-chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s response to US sanctions on mainland and Hong Kong officials.

Cheung confirmed the articles were written by Lee, whose style was “anti-communist”.

Lai’s counsel is expected to start cross-examining the witness when the trial resumes on Monday.