Lai hoped for a Trump win in 2020 elections, fearing Biden would downplay HK protests, court hears

Eunice Lam

Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying expressed his hope for the reelection of then-United States President Donald Trump during his program in October 2020, fearing that a Biden administration might downplay the protests in Hong Kong.

This revelation was heard yesterday on the 115th day of Lai's trial.

In an episode of "Live Chat with Jimmy Lai" aired on October 11, 2020, Lai said: "Trump's way of dealing with China is the right approach, and I hope this approach will persist. So I hope Donald Trump will be reelected."

When questioned by the defense about this stance, Lai described Trump as "playing hardball" and "confronting" China in various ways to "decouple" the US from China. He even said he had prayed for Trump's victory in the presidential election.

Lai believed Trump would take serious measures regarding Hong Kong issues and address the National Security Law.

However, on October 27, 2020, a post on Lai's Twitter, now X, indicated that he had been criticized by friends for his support of Trump, which he described as "inference" and "not right."

Lai later clarified he did not write the post, saying the wording seemed inconsistent with his own.

The court previously heard that former Apple Daily columnist Simon Li Siu-foo had access to Lai's X account, and Lai confirmed that Li sometimes posted on his behalf.

The defense also presented a series of Apple Daily reports from October 2020 regarding scandals involving Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, and his alleged business ties with China.

On October 30, 2020, NBC News published a report stating that Apple Daily had commissioned someone to produce a document to blackmail Hunter Biden concerning these ties.

When questioned by the defense, Lai said he had not read the NBC report but was later informed about it by former Apple Daily associate publisher Chan Pui-man.

On the same day, Lai posted on his X account, denying any involvement in the whistleblowing and disavowing knowledge of his assistant Mark Simon's payment of a US$10,000 (HK$78,000) "research fee" through his private company to investigate Hunter Biden's scandal.

When Judge Susana Maria D'Almada Remedios inquired about Chan's comments in the office, Lai said that Chan only indicated Simon was involved in a piece of fake news related to Taiwan.

On November 5, 2020, Lai wrote on his X account that the suspension of the initial public offering of Ant Group, an affiliate of Alibaba Group, demonstrated that Hong Kong was no longer an international financial hub due to the lack of rule of law.

He said his post referred to Alibaba founder Jack Ma Yun being compelled to withdraw the IPO "without due legal process" after making certain remarks.

eunice.lam@singtaonewscorp.com