Lai, 77, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the national security law and a third count of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications in breach of colonial-era legislation.
On Tuesday, the court watched three interviews the founder of the now-closed Apple Daily tabloid newspaper gave to foreign media, in which he urged the American government to slap sanctions on Chinese technology products and Chinese officials involved in enacting the law by freezing their bank accounts in the United States.
He also said he hoped then US president Donald Trump would impose “very draconian sanctions” on China in one of the interviews.
Lai also texted former Apple Daily publisher Cheung Kim-hung, saying he agreed sanctions on China “would be a perfect storm at the [point] of China’s worst economic slowdown”.
He told the court he did not refer to “hostile activities” against China, clarifying that he only meant sanctions aimed at stopping the enactment of the national security law.
Lai also revealed that Apple Daily’s “One Hongkonger One Letter to Save Hong Kong” initiative, which aimed to get readers to petition Trump to block the national security law, was the idea of Nick Cheung Chi-wai, former director of Apple Daily’s digital platform.
