Jimmy Lai inflamed anti-China sentiments in US, urged hostilities through ‘extreme’ articles, Hong Kong court hears

But Cheung said he was later told by Simon that the attempt failed because the United States government did not want to leave any transaction records on Apple Daily’s website.

The court heard Lai decided to go ahead with the English edition after it was proposed to him by an Apple Daily columnist and online political commentator, who was only known by the pen name Fung Hei-kin.

WhatsApp messaging records submitted to the court showed Lai hoped to attract overseas subscriptions for digital content.

“If foreigners want to support Hong Kong by supporting us, we will be safe,” he told senior editorial staff. “The more I think [about it], the more I feel an English edition is what we must do now.”

The tycoon stressed that balanced reporting was not necessary for the tabloid’s new branch, adding xenophobic sentiment was “what Americans needed the most” after the Covid-19 outbreak.

“When we choose writers, we don’t have to think about giving foreigners a balanced view of what happens here of every different [colour]. We only concentrate [on] our Apple Daily [Hong Kong] view, a general view of the yellow side,” he said, referring to the colour identified by supporters of the 2019 anti-government protests.

Lai specifically asked colleagues not to engage Hong Kong-based financier Weijian Shan, who he said was his friend but whose views were “on the positive side” of China.

The Jimmy Lai trial so far: daily updates on his Hong Kong national security case

“We are not trying to strike a balance, but the point of view of the people on the side of protecting [Hong Kong]. This is the voice the world wants to know,” Lai wrote.

Cheung said Lai, his former boss, appeared intent on galvanising support in the US to take hostile actions towards mainland China, such as through imposing sanctions.

The English edition had portrayed the central government as a totalitarian regime which lacked integrity and violated human rights, with a focus on its accusations that authorities attempted to cover up the Covid-19 pandemic and caused the coronavirus to spread to Western countries, the court heard.

“The English edition was a lot more extreme, I can say,” Cheung said, comparing the new platform with regular Apple Daily articles written in Chinese.