HONG KONG: Pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai went on trial in Hong Kong Monday on national security charges that could see him jailed for life, with the United States and Britain demanding his release.

Lai, 76, is accused of “collusion” with foreign forces under a sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on the finance hub in 2020.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said before proceedings began he was “concerned at the politically motivated prosecution” of Lai. “As a prominent and outspoken... publisher, Jimmy Lai has been targeted in a clear attempt to stop the peaceful exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and association,” Cameron said in a statement. “I call on the Hong Kong authorities to end their prosecution and release Jimmy Lai.”

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller also called for Lai’s release and said actions stifling press freedom “have undermined Hong Kong’s democratic institutions”.

The European Union said Lai’s trial “undermines confidence in the rule of law in Hong Kong and is detrimental to the city’s attractiveness and its position as an international business hub”.

Lai is the founder of the now-shuttered Chinese-language tabloid Apple Daily, which often criticised Beijing and supported the huge protest movement that roiled Hong Kong in 2019. A rags-to-riches millionaire who made his fortune selling clothes before expanding into media, Lai will be tried without a jury and has been denied his first choice of lawyer.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2023