Apple Daily turned ‘radical’ after founder Jimmy Lai met US officials Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo to seek support for Hong Kong protests, court hears

Former publisher Cheung Kim-hung says editorial staff were excited about high-level meeting in Washington between Lai and Trump administration top brass in July 2019

‘Everyone felt that Mr Lai was so powerful that he could meet White House officials and explain to them Hong Kong’s situation,’ prosecution witness tells court

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Police and members of the public outside West Kowloon Court. Prosecutors allege Jimmy Lai was the mastermind of an anti-China conspiracy linked to Apple Daily. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 1:02pm, 19 Jan 2024Updated: 10:09pm, 19 Jan 2024

Hong Kong’s now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid newspaper turned “radical” after its founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying met top US leaders such as Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo to seek their support for the 2019 anti-government protests, a court has heard.

Former publisher Cheung Kim-hung on Friday testified that the paper’s editorial staff were excited about a high-level meeting in Washington between Lai and Trump administration top brass in July 2019, despite a strong backlash from Beijing.

“[We] were on a bit of a high,” the defendant-turned prosecution witness said on the 13th day of the national security trial at West Kowloon Court.

“Everyone felt that Mr Lai was so powerful that he could meet White House officials and explain to them Hong Kong’s situation. Going to the White House was indeed possible.”

The media tycoon received a “warm welcome” from then vice-president Mike Pence, secretary of state Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton, who were joined by three Republican senators, according to a Bloomberg report submitted to the court.