'Jimmy Lai kept focus on eliciting foreign concern'
The national security trial of former Apple Daily boss Jimmy Lai on Thursday heard that the tycoon directed the paper’s English edition to abandon its international coverage to focus on mainland China; and vetoed a proposed addition of soft news over concerns the move would dilute his aim of arousing foreign concerns. A former senior executive at the now-defunct outlet, Cheung Kim-hung, testified that Lai had “kept a close eye” on the English edition, which was designed to draw international attention with stories which were relatively ‘yellow’ – the colour adopted by supporters of the anti-government protests in 2019.  The court heard the English edition had stopped publishing international news articles in late August 2020 upon instructions from Lai, who directed the paper to focus its coverage on the mainland.  “Lai felt that after the enactment [of the national security law], it was a matter of life and death for Hong Kong and Apple Daily, so he was very much concerned about the English edition,” Cheung said.  He also testified that the defendant had shot down an idea to include news articles about travel, food and culture in the English-language publication, expressing concerns that this would “dilute” the intended effect of arousing foreign concerns. Presented with four articles published in the English paper, Cheung said the editorial and opinion pieces were in line with Lai’s instructions to draw foreign attention on Beijing’s “oppression on Hong Kong”. The court was also told that Lai said Apple Daily could publish articles written by contributors “who are in exile or are on a wanted list”, and that the paper would avoid paying such contributors any royalties to pre-empt people from “making a mountain out of a molehill”. “Lai believed they would have the sympathy of Hong Kong, and they could speak for Hong Kong overseas,” Cheung said.  The court heard after the defendant was remanded in custody in December 2020, Lai, who was “of fighting spirits”, told Cheung to “not be scared” and continue running Apple Daily as normal. The ex-publisher said he later relayed the instructions to other senior managers, but noted that Lai’s column and his Twitter live chat “of course came to a halt”.  Government prosecutor Anthony Chau told the court that he could wrap up questioning the witness on Friday, when the trial resumes.  Justice Esther Toh, among the three national security judges on the bench, reminded lawyers that they could still spend time on specific topics if needed.  “I don’t want counsel to be hampered by the bench’s concern about time,” she said.