Hong Kong tycoon and democracy activist Jimmy Lai (黎智英) yesterday said his arrest on Monday took him by surprise and that he has been overwhelmed by residents’ subsequent support despite the threat from China’s new National Security Law for Hong Kong.
“I didn’t expect an arrest as quick as this because I thought that China, with such a strong response from the international community, knew that the implementation of the national security law was a blunder,” he said in a live-streamed conversation hosted by his flagship Apple Daily in Hong Kong.
“I thought they would keep a low profile to make sure that the international community is comfortable with it, the investors, the businessmen — to tell the world that the national security law actually now has calmed everything down,” he said.
Photo: AFP
Lai said he was touched by Hong Kong residents who have supported freedom of the press by this week buying up both copies of the popular tabloid and shares of his media company, Next Digital Ltd (壹傳媒), which helped boost the stock price by as much as 1,100 percent.
“I was really overwhelmed by the emotion of the city — people were obviously very angry about my arrest and came out in different ways to support us,” he said. “The oxygen is getting thin and we are all choking.”
“But when we’re choking, we’re still taking care of each other, and keep resisting and keep fighting for our rule of law and freedom,” he added.
Lai’s arrest is the highest profile in Hong Kong under the new security legislation imposed by Beijing on June 30. It so far has been used to arrest 21 people.
About 200 police officers on Monday raided the headquarters of the Apple Daily.
Lai, Next Digital and several of its executives, the Apple Daily and other related companies yesterday afternoon filed writs in the Hong Kong High Court demanding the police return journalists’ materials, information with legal professional privilege and all other material not covered by the search warrant, Radio Television Hong Kong and the HK01 Web site reported.
Lai said the police who arrested him all seemed to be local officers and that, for the moment, he was not afraid of being spirited away to the mainland for a trial in courts controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
He said that could change if Beijing was convinced he had seriously endangered national security. However, he also made conciliatory remarks, arguing that the world should be friendly toward China.
He said the West’s confrontation with Beijing was a result of Chinese leaders pursuing an agenda that was in conflict with global norms, and the world would not have peace until China realized that and changed its behavior.
“The world doesn’t want to confront China because they’re so big — confrontation every time with China will have such a negative impact on the world,” Lai said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from