Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai, 76, testified in court for the first time on Wednesday in his landmark national security trial, accused of endangering China's national security by colluding with foreign forces.

Jimmy Lai, who is charged with national security offenses, testified that his newspaper “carried a torch to the reality” of people’s desire for freedom in the city.

Jimmy Lai, the pugnacious Hong Kong media tycoon whose now shuttered tabloid Apple Daily was a regular thorn in Beijing’s side, took the stand Wednesday in his own defense for the first time in a high stakes national security trial that could send him to prison for life.

Jimmy Lai, 76, was first arrested in August 2020 under China’s newly instituted Hong Kong national security law.

Jimmy Lai, a prominent pro-democracy advocate and media tycoon, testified for the first time in a Hong Kong courtroom on Wednesday as part of his ongoing national security trial. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

On Tuesday, three national security judges hand-picked by the government for this trial will conclude the legal saga that began with the democrats’ arrests in January 2021. Jail terms are expected to

Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai took the stand for the first time in his national security trial on Wednesday.

HONG KONG (AP) — Former Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai testified he met with then-Vice President Mike Pence and then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during Hong Kong’s anti-government protests in 2019 but told the court at his landmark national security trial Wednesday that he did not ask the U.S. officials to take action.

Hong Kong's former colonial ruler Britain and the United States have condemned the trial and have called for Lai's immediate release. Hong Kong officials say Lai will receive a fa