China critic Jimmy Lai paid US general to advise on Taiwan, Hong Kong court hears

By Jessie Pang and Anson Law

HONG KONG(Reuters) - Hong Kong democrat Jimmy Lai on Thursday told a court trying him for colluding with foreign powers that he paid a former U.S. general to advise former Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen in late 2017, but denied seeking to endanger China's national security.

On the first day of Lai's cross-examination by a government prosecutor, Lai admitted to a "project" in which he sought to bolster communication between the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump during his first term and the island democracy of Taiwan which was then led by Tsai.

Lai, 77, the founder of now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and a charge of conspiracy to publish seditious material.

If convicted, Lai could face up to life imprisonment.

Lai has been held in solitary confinement since December 2020 after his arrest under a China-imposed national security law. The landmark trial is in its 119th day.

The U.S. and British governments have called for Lai's immediate release and have criticised the trial as politically motivated amid a years-long national security crackdown by China in the global financial hub.

China and Hong Kong authorities say the national security law was necessary to restore stability to Hong Kong, and say all are treated fairly under the law, including Lai.

Prosecutor Anthony Chau showed WhatsApp messages which he said revealed that Lai helped arrange a meeting in Taipei between former U.S. army general Jack Keane, former U.S. deputy secretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz and then Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen, who wanted to know the Trump administration's stance towards Taiwan.

The prosecutor asked whether Lai had sought to use Taiwan as leverage against China, and also to engage Keane and Wolfowitz to "give advice to Taiwan for a military upgrade". Lai denied this.

He also denied entering into any agreements with others to endanger national security, nor had he himself engaged in such activities, he said.

Earlier, Lai told his defence counsel Steven Kwan that he had been the author of a message published in the Apple Daily in June 2021, urging his journalists to keep going.

"The history of journalists will never forget your pain of carrying the cross, but don't be afraid," Lai wrote in the message. The paper was forced to close soon afterwards.

Lai on Monday denied lobbying the Biden administration to engage in hostile activity against China, including linking human rights in Hong Kong to negotiations for a trade deal with China.

"Human rights is not hostility," Lai told the court.

(Reporting by Jessie Pang and Anson Law; Editing by James Pomfret and Ros Russell)