The Jimmy Lai Chronicle – What the Court was Told (3): How the Game with America's Top Brass is Rigged

Next Magazine founder Jimmy Lai just got nailed on three counts: conspiracy to publish seditious material and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. Here's what the 855-page court judgment lays bare—Lai wasn't just schmoozing with public figures like then-VP Mike Pence or Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, he bankrolled two retired US military heavyweights to work Taiwan's leadership and tilt Washington's China policy.

Starting in 2017, Lai paid hefty consulting fees to retired US General Jack Keane and former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz to advise Taiwan's Tsai Ing-wen and help her decode White House thinking on Taiwan. Court records show Lai knew exactly what he was buying—direct influence over US policy machinery through men who had the President's ear.

The judgment traces how Lai cultivated these contacts and why. Both Keane and Wolfowitz wielded serious clout in Pentagon and White House circles. Lai maintained ties with them for years, fully aware they could shape US military and diplomatic strategy.

Trump's Go-To General

Court documents show Lai knew Keane was a four-star general dripping with medals. They met at a friend's gathering—Lai couldn't pin down exactly when. Keane's resume stacks up: Vice Chief of Staff of the US Army, national security analyst, president of the Institute for the Study of War. On November 17, 2016, Lai messaged his assistant Mark Simon via WhatsApp that Trump had offered Keane either Secretary of Defense or Secretary of the Army after the election. Keane turned it down. That detail matters—it shows Trump trusted Keane enough to hand him cabinet-level power.

In 2017, Lai messaged Chiang Chun-nan, an aide to Tsai Ing-wen, saying Keane had become Trump's personal advisor and that he believed Keane could influence the President's thinking.

By September 6, 2018, Mark Simon told Lai that Keane was again being floated for Secretary of Defense. Simon's assessment: "Congress, people inside the government, and the President himself all respect Keane." Lai testified he knew Keane had tight links to the US government.

Keane himself called Lai a good friend. On November 26, 2020, during an online Twitter chat, Keane praised Lai's work in the US and noted Lai got "special treatment to speak with American leaders." Keane said plainly: "I'm a good friend of Jimmy Lai. He's a highly respected person in America, and we have great respect for him." The judgment notes Lai was the only Asian maintaining this kind of unique relationship with American leaders—and that "American leaders recognize him."

The Myanmar Advisor Who Knew Asia

Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz also served as US Ambassador to Indonesia, giving him rich experience in US Asia policy. Lai testified he met Wolfowitz briefly in 2013 and 2014 while hunting for investment opportunities. He later hired Wolfowitz as a Myanmar advisor and paid him consulting fees. From 2016 to 2019, they stayed in contact via WhatsApp, meeting in Washington in 2016, January 2017, and May 2017, then in Paris in 2017 and Taipei in December 2017.

Lai's bank records tell the money story. As early as July 2013, he wired roughly HK$587,000 to Wolfowitz. Between 2014 and 2019, he made five more deposits totaling over HK$1.17 million.

Court Rejects Lai's Money-and-Motive Defense

Because of their top-tier influence in US government circles, Lai hired both former military officials to consult for Tsai Ing-wen.

The judgment rips Lai's testimony as "contradictory, inconsistent, evasive, and unreliable." Lai insisted he never paid anyone to influence US policy toward China or Hong Kong. But the evidence contradicts him—he shelled out tens of millions of dollars to Keane and Wolfowitz to advise Tsai Ing-wen, explicitly advocating for using Taiwan as "leverage" against China. The payments benefited US and Taiwan interests at China's expense.

The judgment defines the "Taiwan consulting" as collaboration between Lai, Mark Simon, White House National Security Advisor John Bolton, Keane, Wolfowitz, former US Consul General to Hong Kong James Cunningham, and Chiang Chun-nan. The goal? Advise Tsai to secure US military presence in Taiwan, using the island as a lever to counter China's influence in Asia.

Though Lai denied it, the court rejected his explanation outright. The judgment states flatly that "promoting increased US military presence in Taiwan and relocating US forces from Japan to Taiwan" was Lai's idea.

According to the judgment, on December 12, 2016, Lai replied to Chiang via WhatsApp: "Now is the time for a breakthrough with China. The US should use Taiwan as a bargaining chip against China's 'aggressive behavior' in the 'South China Sea and Korea' and relocate US forces from Japan to Taiwan."

On January 5, 2017, Lai messaged Chiang about his Washington dinner with Keane and Wolfowitz. He told Chiang that Keane had become Trump's personal advisor and was willing to help. On January 19 of the same year, the mission was confirmed in Taipei. Keane told Chiang he needed to meet Tsai before her trip abroad and required a 15-minute private conversation with her.

Meanwhile, Lai and Mark Simon applied to the US Department of Justice for approval for Keane and Wolfowitz to provide consulting services to Tsai. Approval came through in June 2017, and Mark Simon arranged for Tsai, Keane, and Wolfowitz to meet in Taiwan on August 16, 2017.

Hire Retired Generals to Whip Taiwan's Military Into Shape

After the meeting, Lai personally contacted Keane and Wolfowitz to get their read on the session with Tsai.

On August 19—three days after Keane and Wolfowitz met Tsai—Lai personally relayed their thoughts to Chiang Chun-nan via WhatsApp for Chiang to pass to his "boss" Tsai Ing-wen. Lai's message: "Given that Taiwan is back in the international spotlight, signing long-term energy contracts will help attract Washington's attention, which will promote sustained communication between both sides. Recruit retired US generals to enhance Taiwan's military thinking, and use this as a foundation to comprehensively improve Taiwan's military capabilities. Finally, hire a top diplomat to establish and maintain close ties with Taiwan at the diplomatic level in Washington."

Lai also mentioned a ten-year contract in the message and suggested Taiwan hire retired generals to train the military and equip it with modern technology. The message also referenced hiring "a top diplomat"—that was former US Consul General to Hong Kong James Cunningham.

Lai then sent Cunningham's information to Chiang, "because Taiwan needs someone in Washington to help handle relations with the US government." Lai believed Taiwan's own personnel were inefficient in dealing with the US government, and he thought Cunningham could help Taiwan improve the efficiency of its diplomatic channels.

Tsai's meeting with Cunningham was eventually arranged for March 15, 2018, and Lai attended at Tsai's request. Lai admitted during testimony that after meeting Tsai in late March 2018, he was eager for Taiwan to engage with Cunningham to rebuild Taiwan's diplomatic channels with the United States.

The judgment also states that in May 2018, Lai relayed the views of Keane and Wolfowitz to Chiang in a WhatsApp message, arguing that the Trump administration at the time was the best opportunity for Taiwan to deepen its diplomatic relationship with the United States.

The pattern is clear. Lai's collusion with former senior US military officials served a dual purpose: exploit these "good friends'" influence over the White House, the military, and even the President himself to tilt US’s China policy, while positioning them as a bridge between Taiwan and the United States. In doing so, Lai achieved his goal of using Taiwan as a bargaining chip to "counter China."

Law ABC

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Jimmy Lai, founder of Next Digital, was convicted of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. The judgment and court documents show exactly what that looked like: years of contact with anti-China figures in the UK, donations to Hong Kong Watch funneled through his assistant Mark Simon, and repeated efforts to amplify the British parliamentary group IPAC—the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.

Money to Build Network

Court documents identify Benedict Rogers, founder of Hong Kong Watch, as a central figure in Lai's "UK network." Lai testified he first met Rogers after Hong Kong denied him entry in 2017. After that, Rogers contacted Lai directly when he wanted to publish opinion pieces in Apple Daily. Lai made multiple donations to Rogers' organization through Mark Simon, including one payment of £20,000.

Lai told the court he noticed British society paid less attention to Hong Kong issues than America did. Rogers' activities, he said, could help more people in the UK understand Hong Kong's situation. He also pointed out Rogers had deep ties to British political circles, including Lord Alton of the House of Lords and Chris Patten, the last British Governor of Hong Kong.

Lai claimed repeatedly during trial that he had "never heard of" IPAC. The prosecution's electronic communication records tell a different story. Lai not only knew about the organization before it launched—he actively promoted it and stayed in frequent contact with its core members.

On May 31, 2020, Rogers messaged Lai to tell him his friend Luke de Pulford was organizing the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, with Rogers himself participating as an advisor. Rogers said de Pulford hoped to connect with Lai and asked if he could pass along Lai's phone number. Lai immediately agreed.

The next day, de Pulford sent Lai an introductory document about IPAC. On June 3, he forwarded another document titled "Press Release: Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC)" to Lai, announcing IPAC's official establishment with members from nine national parliaments. The stated goal: urging governments to adopt tougher policies toward China.

Publishing on Command

When Lai received the press release, he immediately forwarded it to Apple Daily's Associate Publisher Chan Pui-man with instructions to "handle the story" and a note: "publish it in tomorrow's paper." That same day, he told Chan that de Pulford would send photos to accompany the news.

On June 5, 2020, Apple Daily ran the story with the headline "Nine Parliaments Form Alliance to Strongly Resist CCP, Condemning Forced Implementation of Hong Kong National Security Law as Trampling Human Rights." The article included a photo of de Pulford and former Civic Party Chairman Alan Leong.

The judgment noted Apple Daily published multiple reports about IPAC between June and October of that year. On June 13, the newspaper ran a story on page A5 about Italian and Dutch lawmakers joining IPAC. On June 15, a column titled "Ears by the Wall" published a piece called "Laam Chau Ba Joins International Coalition to Resist," noting that "Laam Chau Ba has launched wave after wave of actions, such as crowdfunding global newspaper ads... Recently Laam Chau Ba had good news – the Laam Chau team officially joined IPAC, formed by lawmakers from multiple countries."

The judgment also mentioned de Pulford and Lai were not strangers. As early as October 2019, Lai had forwarded to Mark Simon a message from Rogers about de Pulford and Lord Alton's visit to Taiwan, providing de Pulford's phone number. Lai also dined with de Pulford in Hong Kong in November 2019, when Lord Alton visited Hong Kong under the pretext of "observing the District Council elections."

In March 2020, Lai forwarded an article co-written by Rogers and de Pulford to Chan Pui-man and Chief Editor Ryan Law Wai-kwong with the instruction to "see if we can help them out." Before the Taipei conference in January, Lai forwarded de Pulford's open letter to a friend, describing it as "a brilliant open letter."

On June 11, de Pulford sent Lai another IPAC press release stating that "within one week of the organization's establishment, membership had grown to over a hundred lawmakers from thirteen countries." Lai forwarded the document to Law Wai-kwong the next day with a note: "This is from de Pulford, see if it's useful." On June 13, he posted on his personal Twitter praising the effort: "Delighted to see lawmakers from various countries transcending political positions to jointly face the global challenge of the CCP."

Lai repeatedly forwarded IPAC-related information after that, including Twitter links and press releases. On July 22, de Pulford told him: "We need to arrange meetings between Nathan Law and European heads of state." Lai replied: "Excellent! This will give him greater international credibility."

After the National Security Law

In early August, de Pulford informed Lai he and Nathan Law would file a private prosecution against Hong Kong police officers in the UK, hoping Apple Daily could cover it. Lai replied expressing gratitude for the support. The following day, he received another IPAC press release and forwarded it to Chan and Law, noting: "This is from de Pulford, please decide whether to use it."

The court found these records clearly showed Lai maintained long-term contact with de Pulford and repeatedly helped promote IPAC activities. His claims of "not knowing" were completely untenable.

After the Hong Kong National Security Law took effect, IPAC members pushed for sanctions against then-Chief Executive Carrie Lam and other officials in the British Parliament. De Pulford informed Lai before the action and received a supportive response. Lai also shared related posts on social media.

On October 24, 2020, Apple Daily published an exclusive interview revealing that "Laam Chau Brother's" real identity was Finn Lau. In the interview, Lau discussed his overseas advocacy work for the "Laam Chau Team" and "Stand with Hong Kong (SWHK)."

That same day, Lai posted on his personal Twitter noting that Lau was only 26 years old but had wisdom and could accurately judge when and what role to play. He said Lau's previous role had inspired his peers, and this time he would do the same. International support was very important, Lai stated. He believed Lau had wisdom, had joined an international coalition, and knew when to play the right role. 

These actions showed Lai continued actively participating in activities promoting sanctions against the SAR Government even after the Hong Kong National Security Law took effect. 

During trial, when the judge asked Lai why he didn't block de Pulford, Lai answered: "Because he's doing good things for Hong Kong." The judge commented that Lai regarded "promoting sanctions against Hong Kong" as a "good thing," demonstrating Lai clearly knew about IPAC's establishment and activities, and actively provided it with a promotional platform.