For Lai, 'the more danger to him, the better '

The former governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, in2020expressed support for then-US president Donald Trump's approach to confronting Chinaand believed that his successor, President Joe Biden, would work with other countries to restrain China.

This emerged yesterday, the 84th day of the national security trial of Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, with the prosecution playing an episode of Live Chat with Jimmy Lai from November 13, 2020, that had Patten and former Next Digital non-executive director Mark Clifford as guests.

Lai told Patten that due to the national security law, people were afraid to demonstrate in the streets, and feared the international community would forget the situation in Hong Kong.

"If the world forgets us, we are totally done," Lai said. Patten responded: "I don't think, Jimmy, the world is going to forget you."

Patten said he fully accepted Trump's method of resisting China, and believed the Biden administration would take a similar tack to working with other countries to restrict China.Foreign countries, he added, would support Hong Kong by "continuing to stand up for people who had been so brave."

Lai suggested Western countries embed Western values and human rights in all their dealings with China.

"The more danger I am in, the more effective in bringing the attention of the outside world to Hong Kong," he said of the risk of being accused of "collusion with foreigners" in speaking to figures like Natan Sharansky.

In November 2020 episodes, Lai, Clifford and others, however, expressed the view that Biden's China policy was softer than Trump's.

They tended to support Trump's tough approach and hoped Biden would work with US allies in the region to resist China militarily and in space.

The final episode featured a discussion with former US Army General Jack Keane, who said Lai's and other protesters' voices were critical and that there was strong support in the US Congress for the situation in Hong Kong.