Sentencing pleas in the Jimmy Lai case took a stark turn on day two. Two of Apple Daily's most senior executives—publisher Cheung Kim-hung and deputy publisher Chan Pui-man—laid bare the brutal reality of working under Lai's thumb.
Through their lawyers, Cheung and Chan described an environment where dissent was futile, orders were absolute, and resistance meant risking everything. Both painted a picture of powerless lieutenants dragged down an illegal path by a boss who wouldn't budge.
Defense counsel argued Cheung Kim-hung held the CEO title but lacked real authority. He could only execute the "mastermind's" orders—objection achieved nothing.
During trial testimony, both executives recounted losing their free will under Lai's command. On Tuesday, Chan went further. She revealed she'd considered quitting but couldn't afford to walk away because of her own medical need. She told the court she deeply regretted failing to hold fast to journalistic principles.
Lai's Top Gun
Cheung Kim-hung was Lai's number one. He'd jumped ship from Apple Daily back in 2005, only to return five years later and climb to publisher and CEO. But when the anti-extradition protests erupted, Cheung became what his lawyer called an "execution tool"—someone who could only carry out the boss's orders.
Yesterday's plea hearing revealed a telling example. Lai wanted to bring former US Army Vice Chief of Staff Jack Keane onto his interview show. Cheung pushed back, asking whether it "might be too sensitive." Lai ignored him. After the Hong Kong National Security Law took effect, Cheung tried again—this time urging Lai and colleagues not to break the law. The evidence speaks for itself: despite repeated warnings, Lai pressed on, only tweaking his methods slightly.
Defense counsel made it clear: Cheung wanted to limit the damage but had no real control. Yes, he held the CEO title. But actual power? Limited. He could only follow the "mastermind's" instructions and try to minimize the fallout from the coverage.
In court testimony, Cheung didn't mince words about being trapped. He called himself a "tool." Lai constantly issued editorial directives and had the final say on everything. Refusing wasn't really an option. Editorial autonomy existed only in the gaps—those rare moments when Lai hadn't issued orders. At the infamous "lunchbox meetings," Lai would spell out his political stance and tell everyone to fall in line.
About a month after the National Security Law came into force, both Cheung and Chan worried they were heading into legal danger. They opposed some of Lai's moves. Lai went his own way and dismissed their concerns.
Chan's Impossible Choice
Deputy publisher Chan Pui-man faced the same crushing dynamic. When Lai proposed using Apple Daily to mobilize a "one person, one letter" campaign urging Trump to intervene, Chan did raise objection. Lai pushed ahead anyway.
During her testimony, Chan revealed Lai went even further. He ordered her to compile a "Shit list"—a sanctions target list naming HKSAR officials and political figures. This dragged her beyond editorial work into outright political action.
The mitigation hearing added new details about Chan's predicament. Her lawyer said she tried blocking controversial articles from publication, had even considered resigning early to escape Apple Daily. But serious illness and mounting treatment costs trapped her. She faced financial hardship and needed the paycheck to survive. So she stayed.
Chan Pui-man expressed deep regret for abandoning journalistic principles. She'd wanted to quit Apple Daily, but mounting medical bills for serious illness left her no choice but to stay.
In her mitigation letter, she expressed profound regret for failing to stand firm on journalistic principles.
The pleas from Cheung and Chan expose the human cost of working under Lai's boulder-like pressure. Unable to uphold their principles, they were dragged onto an illegal path and ended up behind bars. Little wonder both pleaded guilty and turned prosecution witnesses against their former boss. After years of submission, testifying became their final act of resistance.
Lai Ting-yiu
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The US-Israel alliance has ignited a war against Iran, throwing global markets into absolute chaos. Oil prices shattered the US$100-per-barrel mark today （March 9） and are hurtling toward US$120, while Asian stocks cascade and economic shockwaves hammer the United States. President Donald Trump projects outward calm, but a swift victory has proven completely elusive.
Evangelical leaders gather at the White House to bless Trump’s "holy war" against Iran—an unsettling spectacle of spiritual rallying.
Cornered by Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump let slip today that he is already discussing an end to military operations with Israel, conceding that he will "make a decision at the right time, but everything’s going to be taken into account."
The reality is, Trump is actively hunting for an escape hatch. In a telling move, Trump recently summoned evangelical pastors to the White House to lay hands on his shoulders and pray for divine guidance. The goal is clear: manufacture religious fervour to shore up his sinking base and pray his way out of a worsening crisis.
Staging this unconventional "spiritual rally" right now serves a calculated political agenda. Make no mistake: the White House is weaponising the evangelical community’s mobilising power to rally believers behind Trump's "holy war." It is a desperate bid to reverse his collapsing approval ratings.
Weaponising Faith for Survival
Evangelicals form the most deeply conservative Christian bloc in America, anchored in the Southern and Midwestern "Bible Belt." They are the Republican Party's ultimate voting machine and Trump's bedrock of support. During the 2024 presidential election, the vast majority of registered white Christian voters threw their weight behind Trump, driven by a deep-seated hostility toward Kamala Harris.
Public blowback against the Iran campaign is intensifying by the day. Latest polls reveal only 27% of American respondents support the offensive, while a staggering 43% oppose it, and 56% conclude Trump is simply "too eager to use military force to solve problems."
Starved of mainstream support, the president is falling back on a familiar playbook. By summoning pastors to bless his war effort and firing up his propaganda machine, he aims to stoke religious fanaticism among conservative Christians. It is a tactical play to re-energise his die-hard loyalists and project an illusion of absolute strength.
Desperate to reverse his collapsing poll numbers, Trump stokes religious fervour to pray his way out of a worsening crisis.
A Dangerous New Crusade
Another core objective behind this carefully choreographed spectacle is to sanctify the bloodshed in Iran. The optics were meticulously staged: Trump seated at the iconic Resolute Desk, surrounded by pastors murmuring prayers with their hands resting on his shoulders. The entire scene dripped with heavy religious ritual. They called upon God to "continue to give our President the strength that he needs to lead our great nation", to ultimate victory. Ultimately, the ceremony played out like a divine blessing bestowed upon a crusading king, draping a brutal military offensive in the sacred robes of holy war.
Experts warn that Trump is deliberately framing the Iran offensive as a righteous crusade to vanquish evil. The narrative draws a direct, unsettling parallel to the Crusades of a millennium ago, when Christian armies marched out to crush the Islamic empire and reclaim the holy city. History shows those ancient Crusaders left behind mass slaughter and rivers of blood in their wake. If Trump is truly modelling today's conflict on that ancient eastward conquest, the implications for global stability are profoundly terrifying.
This aggressive push to "sacralise" himself and the MAGA movement is hardly a new tactic. Trump has long weaponised his alliance with evangelicals, cloaking his post-election agenda in claims of divine mandate.
To cement this bond, Trump took the unprecedented step of establishing a White House Faith Office. He installed Paula White—chair of his Evangelical Advisory Board and the woman in red standing beside him during the recent prayer event—to lead it. Known for her emotionally explosive style, White famously delivered a feverish prayer during the 2020 election. She screamed "strike, strike, strike" while summoning angels to defeat evil, creating a spectacle that bordered on cult-like worship.
Running Out of Miracles
Confronted by a rapidly spiralling crisis, Trump is instinctively reaching back into his old bag of tricks. He is summoning "sacred energy" to project dominance and hoisting the banner of "fighting evil" to salvage his political survival.
Yet, such action simply overlooks the hard truth of the battlefield. The administration is sinking deeper into an unwinnable quagmire every single day. The trap has already snapped shut, and this time, even divine intervention may not be enough to bail him out.
