By James Pomfret and Jessie Pang
HONG KONG (Reuters) -Hong Kong democrat Jimmy Lai on Wednesday testified for the first time in his landmark national security trial, saying he had never tried to influence the foreign policy of other countries, such as the U.S., towards China and Hong Kong.
Lai, a British and Hong Kong citizen and a founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple (NASDAQ:) Daily, is considered one of the most high profile political arrestees in Hong Kong under a sweeping China-imposed national security law.
His testimony comes just a day after Hong Kong jailed 45 pro-democracy activists for up to 10 years in a separate national security case.
Lai has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and a charge of conspiracy to publish seditious material.
During his trial that began earlier this year, it was alleged that Lai and others had requested a foreign country or organisation – especially the U.S. — “to impose sanctions or blockade, or engage in other hostile activities” against the Hong Kong and Chinese governments.
One example of Lai’s alleged collusion were meetings in July 2019 with then U.S. vice president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo to discuss the political crisis in Hong Kong as mass pro-democracy and anti-China protests intensified.
Under oath in court on Wednesday, Lai denied asking anything specific of Pence.
“I would not dare to ask the vice president to do anything. I would just relay to him what happened in Hong Kong when he asked me,” Lai told the court.
Lai said he had asked Pompeo: “Not to do something but to say something. To voice out its support for Hong Kong.”
On Taiwan, Lai said he had sought to connect former U.S. deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz and retired U.S. general Jack Keane to an interlocutor for former Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen.
“Tsai and myself are friends, so we always talk about U.S. policy,” he told the court, explaining he had sought to connect both sides to create an unofficial channel between then U.S. President Donald Trump and the Tsai administration to bolster mutual understanding.
Lai also told the West Kowloon Magistrates Court how his own guiding principles were aligned through his newspaper and with the people of Hong Kong, namely a belief in the rule of law and freedoms including of speech, religion and assembly.
“We were always in support of movements for freedom,” Lai, wearing a grey blazer and glasses, told the packed courtroom. He added he was against Hong Kong and Taiwan independence.
Around 100 people queued in the pouring rain huddled beneath umbrellas to secure a place in the court, with hundreds of police deployed around the vicinity.
“Apple Daily was the voice of many Hong Kongers,” said William Wong, 64, a retiree. “It’s my political expression to let him (Lai) know I support him. He’s done a lot for Hong Kong.”
Six others had earlier pleaded guilty, including senior staffers of Apple Daily and its parent company Next (LON:) Digital, to conspiring with Lai. One of these, Cheung Kim-hung, the former chief executive of Next Digital told the court earlier that Lai had pushed for U.S. sanctions against Hong Kong and China.
Beijing imposed the national security law in July 2020 after months of sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in the Asian financial hub the year before.
Lai had been held in pre-trial detention for over 1,400 days, before his trial kicked off last December. He is already serving a five year, nine month jail term for a fraud conviction over a lease dispute for his newspaper.
Diplomats from the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Australia, Switzerland and Ireland were present at the hearing.
The U.S. government has condemned Lai’s prosecution and called for his immediate release.
If convicted, the 76-year-old could be jailed for life, and his plight could emerge as a friction point between the U.S. and China in the new Trump administration.
When asked last month whether he would speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping to get Lai out of China if he won the election, President-elect Donald Trump told conservative political commentator Hugh Hewitt in a podcast: “100%”.
“I’ll get him out. He’ll be easy to get out,” Trump said.