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“There is always a price to pay. I have been fighting [for democracy] throughout the years,” he mentioned, including that he would proceed to take action as a result of “without freedom you have nothing left.”
Lai is revered as a standard-bearer of the Hong Kong democracy motion by many. But others have lengthy accused him of being an agent for the United States, resulting from his sturdy ties to Washington.
Despite that criticism, Lai mentioned he believed he would get a truthful trial, because the Communist Party of China (CCP) seeks to reassure the worldwide enterprise neighborhood that Hong Kong’s cherished rule of legislation can be upheld. He referred to as his case a litmus take a look at for the legislation.
Speaking to CNN at his residence in Kowloon on Friday, the septuagenarian dismissed the costs towards him as “not very serious,” including that the proof offered by officers throughout his 40 hours in custody included tv interviews with worldwide media, through which he referred to as for China to be sanctioned.
Under the nationwide safety legislation this may very well be interpreted as collusion with a overseas drive.
Lai has lobbied for the United States to take a tougher line on China, however mentioned he has not finished this in particular person for the reason that legislation handed on July 1, solely on tv. He additionally mentioned he doesn’t again the Hong Kong independence motion, though he supported folks’s freedom to name for it, and denied long-standing rumors that he used cash from the United States to subvert China.
The offense of colluding with overseas powers carries a most penalty of life imprisonment. Lai mentioned that whereas he hoped he wouldn’t spend the remainder of his life in jail, he accepted that jail time was a chance.
When the nationwide safety legislation was handed, Hong Kong chief Carrie Lam mentioned it could solely goal “an extremely small minority of offenders while the life and property as well as various legitimate basic rights and freedoms enjoyed by the overwhelming majority of citizens will be protected.”
A spokesperson for China’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, which is run by the nation’s State Council, on Monday mentioned it “firmly supports” the arrests of Jimmy Lai and others who have been apprehended. “People who colluded with foreign forces to endanger national security should be sternly punished under the law,” the consultant mentioned in a assertion.
“Hong Kong will not have stability if this danger is not removed.”
The arrest
When law enforcement officials got here to his multimillion-dollar residence Monday morning, Lai mentioned he was relieved to see they have been Hong Kong policemen. The nationwide safety legislation permits for sure instances to be tried over the border in mainland China, although these circumstances aren’t clearly outlined.
Police took letters from his residence and his spouse’s laptop, Lai mentioned, including that he doesn’t use a laptop, solely a mobile phone. After being detained, he was escorted to the Apple Daily newsroom and his yacht to help with searches. He says he remained silent throughout his videotaped interview.
According to Apple Daily, Lai was launched on bail equating to roughly $64,500.
While sleeping on the ground of a holding cell, the multi-millionaire who made his first fortune with fast-fashion big Giordano, and who Forbes reported in 2008 was value $1.2 billion, mentioned he questioned whether or not or not he would have taken the identical path if he had recognized it could lead to jail.
“I thought, Yes maybe I will. Because this is my character. Character is destiny,” he mentioned.
A job within the protests
The Apple Daily took an lively position not simply in reporting final summer time’s pro-democracy protests, however in supporting them. The tabloid ran entrance pages calling for residents to exit and march and gave away posters to boost at demonstrations.
As these protests turned more and more violent, with the storming of the town’s legislative headquarters, the siege of a college and the closure of the town’s airport, requires Hong Kong independence from mainland China grew.
But Lai is adamant that he has by no means related to the independence motion in Hong Kong, or referred to as for violent means to realize democracy.
“I want people to have the right to keep the rule of law and freedom of speech we have,” he mentioned. “Violence is a game we had no right to play. We can never be more violent than the CCP who have guns and tanks.”
Lai’s closeness to right-wing politicians within the United States — he met with Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after which National Security Adviser John Bolton in July final 12 months — has been utilized by Chinese state media to color the protest motion, together with Apple Daily and related media, as US-controled.
The People’s Daily — the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party — claimed final 12 months that Lai was a part of a quartet of “secretive middlemen and modern traitors,” as Beijing tried responsible the unrest in Hong Kong on overseas forces.
Some stories have urged that Lai is a minimum of, partly, bankrolled by the United States and that he has supported protesters in Hong Kong utilizing cash acquired by his Western political connections. Lai denied such allegations, saying: “I never [used] funded money to subvert the country.”
“Maybe that’s a charge they have against me,” he mentioned. “But there’s no evidence I support the Hong Kong independence movement because I oppose this.”
When the Hong Kong authorities tried to introduce a legislation final 12 months that might allow extradition to China for sure crimes, hundreds of thousands of individuals took to the streets to protest. But for the reason that nationwide safety legislation got here into impact, there have been no mass marches towards the wide-ranging laws.
“I think the resistance movement should go on,” Lai mentioned. “[But] it has to go on in a very different way. We can’t have two million people on the street anymore. We will have to be more flexible, more careful and more innovative, or even atomize the whole movement. But I think a lot of people will continue to resist.
“This is a time that is not simply a motion — it is a combat for the rule of legislation, for freedom,” he added. “It’s a time to prepare for sacrifice.”
Lai has a British passport. Before he was placed under a travel ban, he could have left Hong Kong rather than remain to face charges. But he said he will not abandon the city which he fled to from China decades ago, and fell in love with for its freedoms — and which allowed him to prosper as a businessman, media tycoon, and democracy activist.
“I can not depart. I can not again off,” he said. “Because the enterprise has to go on and the combat has to go on.”
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