Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong Media Mogul, Takes Stand in National Security Trial

As the founder of Hong Kong’s leading pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, Jimmy Lai cut an unusual figure: a rebellious tycoon who was not afraid to march with anti-government demonstrators and openly criticize China’s ruling Communist Party.

But as he testified for the first time at his landmark national security trial on Wednesday, Mr. Lai eschewed his confrontational image. The jailed media mogul distanced himself from some of the editorial decisions at his former newspaper. He denied having close relationships with Western politicians who prosecutors accuse him of colluding with. And he dismissed the idea of Hong Kong or Taiwanese independence from China as “crazy.”

The far more measured approach from a man who once told China’s former premier, Li Peng, to “drop dead” in a magazine column, reflects the stakes involved in his high-profile case, for which he faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Mr. Lai, 77, is accused of being the mastermind behind anti-government protests that swept across Hong Kong in 2019. Prosecutors have charged him with conspiring and colluding with “foreign forces” to undermine Beijing’s authority over Hong Kong.

Mr. Lai, who has pleaded not guilty, has been in jail for nearly four years. Until Wednesday, he hadn’t spoken publicly about the accusations against him through multiple trials, and his testimony, expected to last several weeks, could be the last time he is able to do so.

His case has captured worldwide attention as a symbol of Hong Kong’s political transformation since Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020 to bring an end to the social unrest. The authorities have used the law to crack down on rights that had long distinguished Hong Kong from mainland China, such as freedoms of speech and assembly.