The Jimmy Lai Chronicle – What the Court was Told (4): How Apple Daily Became Command Central for Hong Kong's 2019 Chaos

Two conspiracy charges for colluding with foreign forces. One sedition count. When the verdict came down against Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong Police National Security Department Chief Superintendent Steve Li didn't mince words—Lai was a driving force behind the 2019 "black violence." But what does the court record actually show? The judgment lays it bare: a coordinated campaign using Apple Daily as a megaphone to flood the streets with protesters, glorify violence under the banner of "peaceful and valiant unity," and build what Lai called a "central command" to orchestrate the chaos.

According to the judgment, Lai viewed the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance amendment as a deliberate plot "to send anti-Communist figures like himself to the Chinese Mainland for trial." He framed it as a "vicious conspiracy" against Hong Kong's rule of law, human rights, and freedoms, declaring "everyone must stand up and resist." That's his narrative. What the court documented was something else: a systematic operation to weaponize a media empire.

The judgment shows that from early 2019, Lai monitored protest developments and foreign reactions—especially from the United States—with intense focus. As Apple Daily's helmsman, deeply embedded in the paper's operations, he turned the publication into a platform for his political agenda. The court found he deliberately aligned Apple Daily's news angles, editorials, and opinion pieces with his political stance. He handpicked contributors and greenlit their articles because, as the evidence shows, he wanted to keep the protest movement burning.

Mobilizing the Streets

The trial record and judgment reveal Lai started directing Apple Daily executives in April 2019 to use editorial coverage as a mobilization tool. He told Cheung Kim-hung, then Next Digital CEO, to interview Causeway Bay Books manager Lam Wing-kee to drum up turnout for the April 28 march. That same month, he messaged Cheung and Chan Pui-man, Apple Daily associate publisher at that time, pressing them to figure out how to get Hong Kong people onto the streets.

The judgment cites one exchange where Lai forwarded a message from former Apple Daily publisher Tung Chiao to Chan Pui-man. Tung had written: "Jimmy, your efforts have not been in vain! Cheers to the brave people of Hong Kong!" Lai replied: "Yes, cheers to the brave people of Hong Kong! Good! I'll tell Pui-man this is a good headline." He then relayed Tung's suggestion to Chan.

In June 2019, Lai talked about finding anti-extradition bill "petition students" to interview, aiming to inspire young people to stand up on June 9. An estimated over one million people participated in that protest. Both Lai and his associates were thrilled with the turnout.

Cheung Kim-hung's testimony also revealed that between June 13-14, 2019, ahead of the "June 16 march," Lai said pan-democrats wanted to print 100,000 banners with "Anti-Extradition" and "Three Strikes" to distribute to protesters for window displays, promoting the resistance. Cheung coordinated with then-Chief Operating Officer Wong Wai-keung to produce the banners. Lai was satisfied with the results, though the banners ultimately weren't distributed after the extradition bill suspension was announced and protester suicide incidents occurred.

Manufacturing the Narrative

The judgment also noted that on June 15, 2019, Apple Daily included a special supplement titled "Defying Authority in June" with the newspaper—a photo collection from anti-extradition bill protest scenes, summarizing the two major June marches. Chan Pui-man testified that "defying authority" meant opposing those in power and opposing the government.

Even after the extradition bill suspension was announced, Lai believed it might return. He instructed that actions should intensify to "prepare for the trick's arrival." The next day, Apple Daily's front page declared: "Evil Law Postponed But Not Withdrawn – Carrie Lam Stalls Before March –Take to Streets Tomorrow." Chan testified that the headline adopted Lai's view that the government was merely employing a "delaying tactic." On July 1, Apple Daily's front page ran: "Evil Law Not Withdrawn – Carrie Lam Not Stepped Down – Take to Streets Again Today."

The day after protesters stormed the Legislative Council building, Lai gave instructions to Chan Pui-man about focusing on young people's voices to "seek citizens' understanding and support" and minimize the incident's negative impact.

The judgment also mentioned that on July 25, 2019, Apple Daily's electronic edition reported on former Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho's program "Inside Zhongnanhai," in which he interviewed Lai about his US trip. After the program ended, Lai called Cheung Kim-hung, saying he had mentioned meeting with then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and calling for US support for the anti-extradition movement in the program, instructing Cheung to "make it bigger." Cheung testified that Lai had privately mentioned sanctions to him.

Publishing Violence Without Question

Cheung Kim-hung's testimony revealed that after Lai's US visit, Apple Daily's editorial policy on anti-extradition bill protests became more radical. Lai pushed the "unity of peaceful and valiant" line, insisting that the "peaceful" and "valiant" camps must unite to succeed. He also said to "publish regardless" of radical protesters' violent acts, reporting and commenting from an angle sympathetic to and supportive of protesters, with resistance conducted long-term. Cheung conveyed Lai's views to Apple Daily executives at "lunch box meetings," blaming the deteriorating social conditions on the SAR government and the Communist regime.

Subsequently, many Apple Daily reports aligned with Lai's "editorial policy." The September 30 headline read "Bullets Wildly Bombarding Hong Kong Island – Hundreds Injured and Arrested – Crazy Police Violence Welcomes October 1." October 7: "Mask Ban Ignites Fury – Citywide Resistance Continues." October 9: "Peaceful and Valiant – The Regime – Forces Our Evolution." November 15: "Dragon-Slaying Squad's Marginal Call – Whole Population Goes Valiant with Three Strikes," with reporters interviewing four "Dragon-Slaying Squad" members with positive descriptions. October 18: "Society Special: Save Our Own Brothers Ourselves," calling on protesters to unite to rescue comrades arrested by police.

On January 5, 2020, Lai published a column titled "2020 – Peaceful and Valiant Continue to Stand Together." He testified that on January 1, 2020, he participated in protest activities with Martin Lee and others, stating he agreed with demonstrators who shouted slogans like "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times" and "Black Police and Their Families Go Die." He also praised an underage girl who "swore at police" as "sharp" and said "with such young people we can't lose," though he expressed regret for these remarks in court.

Building Financial Support Infrastructure

The judgment also mentioned several Apple Daily actions in 2019 supporting young people taking to the streets. On November 19, 2019, Apple Daily published a full-page advertisement for a "Student Support Subscription Plan" with the words "Support Students, Oppose Tyranny," calling on readers to donate HK$300 for each student aged 10-20 so students could receive a free one-year Apple Daily subscription.

Lai also instructed Apple Daily's advertising department to publish classified ads for "supporting small shops" because there was support for the "Yellow Economic Circle" at the time. Apple Daily allowed yellow shops to place classified ads for free.

There was also the "One Hongkonger, One Letter to Save Hong Kong" campaign. On May 22, 2020, Lai had Apple Daily launch "One Hongkonger, One Letter to Save Hong Kong," urging Hong Kong people to send letters to then-US President Donald Trump through Twitter, Facebook and other channels, calling for the US to "intervene" in the National Security Law legislation. Apple Daily subsequently promoted it with front-page coverage three times, attaching sample petition letters. Cheung testified that Lai hoped the US would impose sanctions or other measures on the Communist Party to save Hong Kong.

Direct Funding of Protest Activities

The judgment also covered Apple Daily's financial support for anti-extradition bill protests. Cheung testified that Lai proposed that between July 1 and September 1, 2019, readers who paid a HK$3 fee on Apple Daily's website would have HK$1 go toward a fund subsidizing protesters' future medical expenses and legal costs, hoping to support protesters and anti-extradition figures subscribing to Apple Daily. On July 5, Cheung reported to Lai: "Boss, as of 2am today, the total number of Apple Daily paid members has exceeded 300,000!" and "The upgraded membership of Next Animation Studio under Next Digital has also exceeded 300,000!"

Furthermore, Jimmy Lai's interactions with members of the "Glory to Hong Kong Team" (also called the "Burn with Us Team") were connected to the anti-extradition protests. The judgment noted that Lai's first two meetings with Andy Chan were driven by hopes that Chan could help him contact leaders of the "valiant" camp and establish a dialogue mechanism, as he worried that violent protests would lose international support, especially from the United States. However, at their third meeting, Andy Chan had clearly told Lai that he could not contact "valiant" leaders, yet Lai continued maintaining contact with Chan. His purpose was no longer merely to pacify the valiant camp, but to promote the Glory to Hong Kong Team's international lobbying plan.

Jimmy Lai admitted that before that meeting with Andy Chan, he had already obtained information about the "valiant" camp from HKU student Sunny Cheung, yet Lai claimed he still believed Andy Chan could pacify the "valiant camp." The court found Lai's testimony completely illogical. Lai believed protesters fell into two categories: peaceful demonstrators like himself, and so-called "valiant" violent protesters standing at the forefront of resistance. However, Lai believed that even among valiant protesters there were peace-loving individuals, with Andy Chan being a more conservative member. What's puzzling is this: if Andy Chan was a peaceful protester, how could he pacify violent protesters? It's hard to believe.

The Central Command Plan

The judgment also stated that on November 15, 2019, Apple Daily interviewed members of the "Dragon-Slaying Squad" and published the report, but Lai made no attempt to obtain their contact information through Apple Daily. The court questioned why Lai didn't use Apple Daily's own channels if his purpose was to pacify radical protesters.

Additionally, Lai's communications with Andy Chan revealed Lai's idea of building a protest "central command." Chan's testimony stated that Lai had said things young people couldn't accomplish, he could achieve through media power. He believed pan-democrats possessed sufficient local resources and international standing to secure government responses. At the time, Lai believed violent incidents would cause Hong Kong to lose international support, so he proposed a "purification plan"—contacting "valiant" leaders to make them exercise restraint. Simultaneously, Lai wanted to establish a "central command" that could bridge the "peaceful, rational and non-violent" and the "valiant" camps, with Lai wanting to lead this "central command."

Subsequently, after the District Council elections, on November 25, 2019, Lai sent a message to Andy Chan saying "What a beautiful day! We should consider the next step." Andy Chan testified that at the time, Lai believed they could combine the forces of the streets, Legislative Council and international community to maintain enthusiasm for the anti-extradition movement and force the government to respond to demands.

Bankrolling International Propaganda

Regarding international publicity for the anti-extradition protests, Jimmy Lai's funding of multiple newspaper advertisement campaigns between June 2019 and May 2020 through his assistant Mark Simon warrants attention—including "G20," "Sino-British Joint Declaration," and "G20 X Burn with Us Team."

Lai, through Mark Simon, told Andy Chan he was willing to advance HK$5 million for global newspaper ads. In the "G20" newspaper advertisement plan alone, Andy Chan coordinated invoices and receipts, with HK$1.5 million in advertising fees advanced by Lai's company. Andy Chan also organized various street booths and exhibitions, co-organizing a "Newspaper Exhibition" with Lee Yu-hin in Hong Kong, which also received funding from Lai and Mark Simon.

In summary, Lai used Apple Daily as a platform to call on the public to take to the streets supporting anti-extradition bill protests, reporting with "sympathy" for violent acts while emphasizing "unity of peaceful and valiant" to sustain long-term resistance. He also wanted to establish a "central command" bridging the "peaceful, rational and non-violent" and the "valiant" camps.

Meanwhile, Lai financially supported the anti-extradition movement, calling on readers to pay a HK$3 fee on Apple Daily's website with HK$1 going to a fund subsidizing protesters' medical expenses and legal costs. He also advanced HK$5 million to the "Burn with Us Team" to launch global newspaper advertisement campaigns promoting anti-extradition bill protests.

Law ABC

** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **

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.