Former Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai begins to testify in his national security trial

Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) — Former Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai is testifying in his defense at his landmark national security trial. He began testifying as his trial resumed Wednesday. Lai was arrested in 2020 during a crackdown on mass pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong starting in 2019. He is fighting charges of colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to issue seditious publications. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison. His case, tied to the now-shuttered Apple Daily pro-democracy newspaper that Lai founded, is widely seen as a measure of press freedom and judicial independence in the Asian financial hub.