Apple Daily described govt officials rooting for NSL as traitors to Hong Kong, court heard

Apple Daily had described government officials, including former Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hwa and CY Leung, principle officials and Executive Council members, as traitors to Hong Kong for rooting for the Beijing-imposed National Security Law.

This came as former associate publisher Chan Pui-man, the second prosecution accomplice witness for Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s national security trial, testified at West Kowloon Court as the trial entered its 31st day.

The prosecution presented in court this morning an article published in Apple Daily dated July 1, 2020. 

The article listed the names of several then-HK deputies of the National People's Congress and then-HK members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Top government officials, legislative councilors, and university presidents were also named and shamed in the newspaper for supporting the Beijing-imposed National Security Law.

Chan told the court that the article aimed to document the roles of these people behind the implementation of the National Security Law.

In the article, the politicians and city leaders were described as “puppets and enforcers of the Chinese regime” and “yes-men of the Legislative Council.”

When asked about whose idea is it to publish the article, Chan said the article was prepared by colleagues of the print edition of Apple Daily, with the content later uploaded online.

Yet she was unsure whether the content was translated to English for the English edition of Apple Daily. She could not recall who came up with the idea during an editorial meeting, yet she noted that she herself also rooted for the idea of publishing the article.