Lai wanted Western values in China

Eunice Lam

On the 80th day of his national security trial, the court heard Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, the founder of Next Digital, had say in a recorded interview that there would be no peace in the international community if Western values were not implanted in China.

In a separate interview, Lai also said Hong Kong would no longer be a financial center if the national security law were to be passed, as that would mean that the SAR would be without the rule of law.

The court heard the interviews as prosecutors yesterday continued playing 25 hours of footage of Lai's interviews, including one from August 2020 when he was asked about the "implications of the national security law."

Lai said the rule of law has been the foundation of Hong Kong, a legacy from British colonial times, and "everything will be lost" without it.

On an episode of Live Chat with Jimmy Lai on August 18, 2020, featuring the former independent non-executive director of Next Media, Mark Clifford, and the emeritus professor of East Asian studies at Princeton University, Perry Link, as guests, Lai said values held by China conflict with the outside world and questioned whether everyone is ready to be changed by China's values.

"Freedom is not our right, freedom is what they give you, what they allow you is freedom. It is not something you are born with or entitled to," he said.

Lai suggested that Western countries would gradually join the United States to confront China on the trade front and called on the international community to inflict economic harm on China.

He said the most destructive aspect of sanctions is that when everyone knows China and the United States will fall into a "hot war," no one will invest in China, causing its economy to fall into a death spiral.

During the trial, the court also heard Lai's recollection of his arrest on August 10, 2020, when around 20 officers arrived at his home and someone spoke Putonghua.

Lai said Hongkongers were angry about his arrest as it had been against the people's belief in the freedom of speech.

University of Hong Kong associate professor Chow Kam-pui, an expert witness for the prosecution, said Lai could have forwarded several messages to ex-Apple Daily associate publisher Chan Pui-man so that the four messages were sent at the same time.