Last week (26 September), two executives of the Stand News were sentenced for publishing seditious materials. The case was considered closed. However, significant questions remain, particularly regarding the $61 million in mysterious assets, which have been deliberately obscured, leaving their true origins unclear. Notably, some arrangements suggest likely involvement of foreign powers.
Following police enforcement actions in 2021, the Secretary for Security froze approximately $61 million in Stand News’ assets under Schedule 3 of the Hong Kong National Security Law, indicating its considerable size of revenues. Given that Stand is a small media outlet with limited income, such substantial assets raises serious questions.
Police investigations revealed that most funds for Stand News were deposited covertly, suggesting attempts to evade scrutiny. There are grounds to suspect that individuals deliberately concealed their identities or disguised donations, channelling significant sums into the “news” outlet.
In 2015 alone, over 1,000 transactions were recorded in Stand News’ accounts, primarily consisting of cash or PayPal transfers. A few days after Apple Daily ceased publication on June 27, 2021, Stand News also discontinued its membership sponsorship program, and with minimal advertising, it is puzzling how it amassed over $60 million. This leads to speculation about a substantial external funding source, often referred to as a "water pipe," with the identities of these financiers yet to be unveiled.
Earlier media reports have identified Evan Fowler, an overseas director of Stand News, as a co-founder of the anti-China media outlet Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) and an associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, a British foreign policy think tank closely linked to the UK and US governments. This connection raises suspicions about foreign backing through anonymous donations to Stand News.
There may be multiple such funding channels. As previously mentioned, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has long provided direct or indirect financial support to media and journalists worldwide under the guise of training and developing the media sector, potentially establishing an anti-government public opinion base. The possibility that Stand News is a beneficiary cannot be dismissed.
To protect its financial information, Stand News operates as a trust fund, with its printing company directed by founder Tsoi Tung-ho. Financial experts note that the high opacity of trust funds complicates tracing large sums of unverified origin. Additionally, the shareholders and underwriters of Stand News are closely linked, allowing for funds to be easily exchanged.
Tsoi Tung-ho, associated with the "Occupy Central" movement, is identified as an initial sponsor of Stand News, having provided funding for its establishment in late 2014. His team included members from the former Home News, such as Chung Pui Kuen. Allegations suggest that during his time at Home News, he received funding from Next Media's owner, Jimmy Lai.
Although the trial surrounding Stand News has concluded, numerous uncertainties persist, particularly regarding the origins of the $61 million in mysterious assets and undisclosed relationships with people in various political circles. As more information emerges, the intricate network connecting internal and external influences in Hong Kong will become clearer.
Lai Ting Yiu
What Say You?
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
Trump's Venezuela play just gave Western progressives a masterclass in American hypocrisy.
Steve Bannon, Trump's longtime strategist, told The New York Times the Venezuela assault—arresting President Nicolás Maduro and all—stands as this administration's most consequential foreign policy move. Meticulously planned, Bannon concedes, but woefully short on ideological groundwork. "The lack of framing of the message on a potential occupation has the base bewildered, if not angry".
Trump's rationale for nabbing Maduro across international borders was drug trafficking. But here's the tell: once Maduro was in custody, Trump stopped talking about Venezuelan cocaine and started obsessing over Venezuelan oil. He's demanding US oil companies march back into Venezuela to seize control of local assets. And that's not all—he wants Venezuela to cough up 50 million barrels of oil.
Trump's Colonial Playbook
On January 6, Trump unveiled his blueprint: Venezuela releases 50 million barrels to the United States. America sells it. Market watchers peg the haul at roughly $2.8 billion.
Trump then gleefully mapped out how the proceeds would flow—only to "American-made products." He posted on social media: "These purchases will include, among other things, American Agricultural Products, and American Made Medicines, Medical Devices, and Equipment to improve Venezuela's Electric Grid and Energy Facilities. In other words, Venezuela is committing to doing business with the United States of America as their principal partner."
Trump's demand for 50 million barrels up front—not a massive volume, granted—betrays a blunt short-term goal. It's the classic imperial playbook: invade a colony, plunder its resources, sail home and parade the spoils before your supporters to justify the whole bloody enterprise. Trump isn't chasing the ideological legitimacy Bannon mentioned. He's after something more primal: material legitimacy. Show me a colonial power that didn't loot minerals or enslave labor from its colonies.
America's Western allies were silent as the grave when faced with such dictatorial swagger. But pivot the camera to Hong Kong, and suddenly they're all righteous indignation.
The British Double Standard
Recently, former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith penned an op-ed in The Times, slamming the British government for doing "nothing but issuing 'strongly worded' statements in the face of Beijing's trampling of the Sino-British Joint Declaration." He's calling on the Labour government to sanction the three designated National Security Law judges who convicted Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai of "collusion with foreign forces"—to prove that "Hong Kong's judiciary has become a farce." Duncan Smith even vowed to raise the matter for debate in the British Parliament.
The Conservatives sound principled enough. But think it through, and it's laughable. The whole world's talking about Maduro right now—nobody's talking about Jimmy Lai anymore.
Maduro appeared in US Federal Court in New York on January 6. The United States has trampled international law and the UN Charter—that's what Duncan Smith would call "American justice becoming a farce." If Duncan Smith's so formidable, why doesn't he demand the British government sanction Trump? Why not sanction the New York Federal Court judges? If he wants to launch a parliamentary debate, why not urgently debate America's crimes in invading Venezuela? Duncan Smith's double standards are chilling.
Silence on Venezuela
After the Venezuela incident, I searched extensively online—even deployed AI—but couldn't find a single comment from former Conservative leader Duncan Smith on America's invasion of Venezuela. Duncan Smith has retreated into his shell.
Duncan Smith is fiercely pro-US. When Trump visited the UK last September amid considerable domestic criticism, the opposition Conservatives didn't just stay quiet—Duncan Smith actively defended him, calling Trump's unprecedented second UK visit critically important: "if the countries that believe in freedom, democracy and the rule of law don’t unite, the totalitarian states… will dominate the world and it will be a terrible world to live in."
The irony cuts deep now. America forcibly seizes another country's oil and minerals—Trump is fundamentally an imperialist dictator. With Duncan Smith's enthusiastic backing, this totalitarian Trump has truly won.
Incidentally, the Conservative Party has completely destroyed itself. The party commanding the highest support in Britain today is the far-right Reform Party. As early as last May, YouGov polling showed Reform Party capturing the highest support at 29%, the governing Labour Party languishing at just 22%, the Liberal Democrats ranking third at 17%, and the Conservatives degraded to fourth place with 16% support.
The gutless Conservative Party members fear offending Trump, while voters flock to the Reform Party instead. The Conservatives' posturing shows they've become petty villains for nothing.
Lo Wing-hung
