Apple Daily ran ‘End of the two systems’ series to reflect founder Jimmy Lai’s views about national security law impact on Hong Kong, court hears

The prosecutors on Friday presented three Apple Daily articles published on July 5, 8 and 23, 2020. The news reports were under a series about the national security law, which took effect on June 30, and all carried the title “End of the two systems” as the header.

“Who decided the name of the series?” Judge Alex Lee Wan-tang asked.

“On the day when the national security law took effect, this phrase also appeared on the front page of the newspaper,” Cheung told the court. “That was in line with Mr Lai’s belief about the impact of the law. We therefore adopted this name.”

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The header for the three articles also carried a photo in the background that contained a protest flag and the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times”.

The High Court in 2021 ruled in the city’s first national security trial that the slogan, a rallying cry during the 2019 social unrest, was capable of inciting secession.

“Whose idea was it to put the eight [Chinese] characters next to the title?” Lee asked.

“I don’t remember,” Cheung said. “But the slogan was extracted from a news photo.”

“Who was in charge of the general news section?” Lee asked.

Cheung said: “Chan Pui-man and she reported to me.”

Chan, a former associate publisher of Apple Daily, started her testimony for the prosecution on Friday afternoon.

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Media tycoon Lai has denied two conspiracy charges of collusion with foreign forces under the national security law, as well as a third count of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications under colonial-era legislation.

Cheung and five other senior executives are currently behind bars pending sentencing after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. He and two co-accused have agreed to provide evidence for the prosecution in exchange for lighter penalties.

The court also revealed that in the month after the security law took effect, senior management at the newspaper had discussed whether to publish the protest slogan.

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Anthony Chau Tin-hang, the deputy director of public prosecutions, presented WhatsApp messages from a group chat that showed Cheung telling colleagues to “play safe” and put aside an advertisement by a pro-democracy group that included the slogan.

Cheung also forwarded a message to colleagues by in-house legal counsel that instructed colleagues to avoid publication of the wording in the news pages that he oversaw.

“The press release issued by the government specifically mentioned the slogan ‘Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our times’ would contravene the national security law,” the message read.

“Therefore starting from today, all drafts containing this slogan cannot be published, I will tell the colleagues about that.”