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Back in August 2020, shortly after China had pushed through a new security law in Hong Kong, 200 police officers were sent to the offices of Apple Daily, a pro-democracy newspaper run by Jimmy Lai. Lai himself was arrested at home but was brought into the office and paraded around in handcuffs. The police also arrested other high ranking staff at the newspaper and seized papers and laptops.
Images from inside @appledaily_hk’s building. Yes, this is #HongKong. pic.twitter.com/lgPyOoiLhs
William Yang (@WilliamYang120) August 10, 2020
That same day, China froze Lai’s accounts in an attempt to shutter Apple Daily. Because readers pushed to keep the paper going it actually survived for a while until China finally froze its corporate bank accounts, shutting down the only outspoken pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong.
The excuse for all of this was that Lai and others had colluded with foreign agents to attempt to undermine China’s control. Ever since then China has been prosecuting people involved, trying to write its version of what happened into the history books. Yesterday the published an exclusive report about Andy Li Yu-hin, a pro-democracy activist who was arrested trying to flee Hong Kong and who has been held by authorities ever since. Andy is now expected to testify against Apple Daily’s owner Jimmy Lai, saying that he was the ring-leader of a foreign organized effort and was telling others what to do. All of this is aimed at justifying the mainland’s decision to imprison Lai for life. But there’s reason to believe Andy Li is not testifying freely.
On Monday, Hong Kong’s highest profile trial since the 2020 crackdown will begin. Li’s testimony will be key to the government’s case against Jimmy Lai, the billionaire media mogul and founder of Apple Daily, the independent newspaper that has now been shut down. Lai is charged under the national security law with “colluding with foreign forces.” The Hong Kong authorities will use the prosecution to paint a narrative of the 2019 protests as a U.
