By Eryk Michael Smith / Staff
HONG KONG — Media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying (黎智英), founder of Next Digital and the now-defunct Apple Daily, was convicted Monday on charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and conspiracy to publish seditious materials under Hong Kong’s national security framework. The news was announced at around 10 am on Monday.
Lai, 78, and his companies also actively invested in Taiwan real estate, including luxury residences and industrial properties; these have met with a variety of fates: a company-owned printing plant in Kaohsiung, for example, was sold in 2019.
Three companies linked to Apple Daily were also found guilty of related offenses. The High Court ruled after a trial that spanned 156 hearing days, with judges deliberating for more than two months before delivering the verdict.
The court found Lai guilty on two counts of collusion with foreign or external forces and one count of publishing seditious materials. The three companies were each convicted on one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publications and one count of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces.
Sentencing submissions have been scheduled for Jan. 12, with sentencing dates to be determined later.
Court Finds Lai a Central Figure
In its written judgment, spanning 855 pages, the court said it accepted the prosecution’s argument that Lai played a central role in the offenses. Judges cited documentary evidence and rejected key portions of Lai’s testimony, describing it as inconsistent and unreliable.
The court said it placed greater weight on documentary evidence when assessing witness testimony, noting that some cooperating witnesses may have had incentives related to sentencing considerations.
Evidence presented included meetings in 2019 between Lai and senior U.S. officials in Washington, including then–Vice President Mike Pence and then–Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The court accepted the prosecution’s claims that these meetings involved discussions related to Hong Kong and calls for sanctions.
The judgment also referenced the role of Lai’s assistant, Mark Simon, who was described as facilitating overseas contacts and arranging meetings with foreign officials on Lai’s behalf.
Extended Pretrial Detention
Lai was first arrested in August 2020 and has been in custody since December of that year after multiple bail applications were denied. As of Monday, he has been detained for more than 1,830 days.
The trial began in December 2023. Lai conducted his own oral defense in English over 52 days. Closing arguments concluded in August 2025.
Six key prosecution witnesses testified, including former Apple Daily executives Cheung Kim-hung (張劍虹), Chan Pui-man (陳沛敏), and Yeung Ching-kei (楊清奇), as well as other individuals involved in international advocacy efforts linked to the case.
Eight related defendants had previously pleaded guilty to collusion-related charges. Several are expected to receive sentence reductions for cooperation.
Pressure from Trump Administration?
According to previous reporting by Reuters, when President Donald Trump met with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping on October 30, Trump pressed Xi to release Lai. Taipei-based political analyst Ross Feingold told The Kaohsiung Times that Lai’s family and aides have strong relationships with persons in, or close to, the Trump administration, making it likely the US government continues to raise Lai’s case with China. “In recent decades, China has periodically agreed to allow dissidents to depart, though whether the central government would intervene like that in a case in Hong Kong, or insist that under One Country, Two Systems it cannot intervene, remains to be seen”.
