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14 Aug 2020

HK activist: ‘If I was satisfied with being a businessman I would not have taken this life’

When hundreds of police were sent to arrest the media tycoon Jimmy Lai there was an international outcry.

The Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy campaigner has now been released on bail.

He has warned young protesters they will need to be “more cautious” following China’s introduction of a new national security law, which many fear will be used for a significant crackdown on democracy campaigners and media owners.

71-year-old Jimmy Lai, who owns Apple Daily, one of Hong Kong’s most-read newspapers, was arrested under the new law on Monday over several allegations including collusion with foreign forces, all of which he dismissed as bogus.

He said the arrest was a violation of Hong Kong’s wide-ranging freedoms.

I spoke to Mr Lai earlier, and I asked him – whether he had deliberately provoked a reaction from China.