'Lai was mastermind of anti-China campaign'
The trial of former media tycoon Jimmy Lai was told on Thursday that the defendant was the mastermind and a key financial supporter of an international campaign aimed at bringing down the Chinese government. Prosecutors said he loaned millions of dollars to the campaign calling for foreign political pressure on the Chinese and Hong Kong governments as they wrapped up their opening statements. The Apple Daily founder had earlier pleaded not guilty to three conspiracy charges relating to collusion with foreign forces and sedition. On Thursday, the prosecution alleged that Lai was a “mastermind and financial supporter at the highest level command” of a group of co-conspirators canvassing foreign support.  Government prosecutor Anthony Chau told the court that Lai agreed to loan HK$5 million to an “international propaganda” campaign after learning about it through his personal assistant Mark Simon. The court heard under the campaign, articles were published on three separate occasions in foreign media organised by Andy Li, one of the 12 Hongkongers caught by mainland authorities during an alleged attempt to flee to Taiwan, to solicit “foreign exertion of undue political pressure” on the Chinese and Hong Kong governments. The prosecution alleged that Lai later outlined a four-stage "implosion" agenda to instigate “administrative and economic turmoil in China”. Detailing the financial connections between the former media tycoon and others, the court was presented with a colour-coded flow chart, which highlighted transactions of more than HK$93 million from Lai to Simon between 2013 and 2020 that were “further dissipated” to those from the pro-democracy camp. The court also heard that "Stand With Hong Kong" was used as a platform in establishing an international network to seek support from foreign countries, and that it invited 19 overseas political figures to Hong Kong to observe the district council election in 2019. Meanwhile, prosecutors alleged that Apple Daily had continued to publish seditious articles under the direction of Lai, even after his arrest in 2020.  The paper’s continued activities showed the defendant’s persistence in pursuing his scheme, Chau alleged. The trial will resume on Monday.