Lai reckoned it's right time for US to strike China

Apple Daily, a newspaper owned by Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, had published articles by commentator Sang Pu and invited him to comment on current affairs despite concerns raised by then editorial writer Yeung Ching-kee about his "pro-independence" political stance.

His testimony on the 42nd day of Lai's national security trial at one stage prompted judge Lee Wan-tang to question the prosecution about the relevance of discussing the writing angles of different columnists and reminded them that the case targeted seditious rather than pro-democracy publications.

The prosecution asked Yeung, a prosecution witness who managed the forum section of Apple Daily's supplement, about the writing styles of different columnists.

Yeung told the court that Keung Kwok-yuen, who went by the pen name of On Yu, was a veteran journalist familiar with US politics and supported the pro-democracy camp.

Another columnist, Simon Lee Siu-fu, more commonly known as Simon Lee, too "obviously supported the pro-democracy camp" and shared Lai's views.

Yeung also said "some columnists recommended by Lai, including Sang Pu, wrote articles supporting independence for Hong Kong."

However, he clarified that he would not take the stance of supporting independence for Hong Kong when publishing Sang Pu's articles on the forum page.

Chat records between Yeung and former associate publisher Chan Pui-man in April 2021 revealed that Chan had suggested assigning Sang Pu to write other lifestyle columns for Apple Daily.

The prosecution presented two column articles written by Lai.

In one, from July 2020, Lai expressed skepticism about Western countries relaxing sanctions against China. Yeung interpreted this as Lai's judgment on the sanctions situation.

In another article, from August 2020, Lai discussed the economic and political losses resulting from China's confrontation with the United States.

Yeung viewed this as Lai's recognition of the effectiveness of sanctions.

WhatsApp chats between Yeung and Lai in October 2018, following a speech by former US vice president Mike Pence on the US policy on China, indicated that Lai believed it was a good time for the United States to take the lead in adjusting its policies on China. Lai eventually wrote commentaries in that regard for the "Apple Forum" section.

Yeung described "Lai as a successful businessman who understood the market and customer needs. Even when running a newspaper, Lai would adjust the newspaper's stance based on changes in US policy toward China."

Yeung also said that during the 2019 protests, it was widely known that Apple Daily adopted a radical political stance. Both the newspaper's reports and Lai's columns would encourage people to take to the streets for demonstrations.

The defense is scheduled to begin cross-examining Yeung today, and it is expected to take two days.