HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s top leader on Tuesday warned President-elect Donald Trump not to interfere in the Chinese territory’s internal affairs after he said he would “100%” free the imprisoned pro-democracy activist and tycoon Jimmy Lai.
Lai, 76, the founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of sedition and collusion with foreign forces in a landmark national security trial that is widely seen as a test of Hong Kong’s press freedom and judicial independence. He faces possible life imprisonment.
Asked last month whether he could get Lai out of China, Trump told conservative podcast host Hugh Hewitt, “100%, I’ll get him out” and that it would be “so easy.”
At a news conference Tuesday, Lee did not directly answer a question about Trump’s remarks but said he hoped for “mutual respect” between Hong Kong and the United States, one of its top trading partners.
“We desire mutual respect with all countries, including the U.S., because trade is beneficial for both sides,” he said.
He said Hong Kong, whose government denies that judicial independence is under threat, also valued the rule of law.
“In these respects, I hope that all countries will respect the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and avoid political interference that could affect the judiciary and normal commercial activities in Hong Kong,” he said.
Lai’s trial, which began in December, is expected to resume next week, with Lai taking the stand for the first time as defense arguments begin.
The billionaire media tycoon, who had long been a thorn in the side of Beijing, was arrested in August 2020, shortly after the central Chinese government imposed a national security law that criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
Hong Kong and Chinese officials say the law was necessary to restore stability after sometimes-violent pro-democracy protests roiled the city for months in 2019. But critics say it has been used to crack down on dissent in Hong Kong, a former British colony that was promised its civil liberties would be preserved for 50 years when it returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.
Hong Kong also enacted its own national security legislation in March.
Lai, a British national, is being tried by three national security judges handpicked by Lee. He is accused under the national security law of colluding with foreign governments to call for sanctions and other hostile actions against China and Hong Kong, as well as being accused of conspiring to publish “seditious” materials under a colonial-era law.
He has been charged in multiple other cases and is already serving a prison sentence of almost six years after being convicted of fraud in 2022.
John Burns, an emeritus professor at the University of Hong Kong who specializes in the city’s politics and governance, said Trump’s comment was part of his “magical realism foreign policy” and a combination of “boasting” and “simple solutions.”
“Not everything in this world is amenable to a deal,” Burns told NBC News in an interview. “Authorities in Hong Kong would say that national security is not open for deals.”
Lai is “probably the most high-profile” person out of the approximately 300 people arrested under the national security law, Burns said, adding that the Chinese central government “cares a lot” about his case.
“If Trump said he could free almost anyone else, there’d be more credibility than saying he could free Jimmy Lai,” he said.
A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
Trump was a popular figure among 2019 protesters, some of whom waved American flags and held up posters asking him to “liberate” Hong Kong. During his first administration, Trump revoked Hong Kong’s special trade status and signed into law legislation authorizing sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials accused of rights abuses.
That legislation was introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., whom Trump is expected to nominate as his secretary of state.
Lee, Hong Kong’s former secretary for security, is among the officials sanctioned over their involvement in implementation of the 2020 national security law.
He also did not directly answer a question about the potential closure of Hong Kong’s economic and trade offices in Washington, New York and San Francisco. In September, House lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a bill that would allow their closure if they are found not to be running with a “high degree of autonomy” from China.
The legislation could also be passed by the new Republican-majority Senate and then signed into law by Trump, who could also use it as a negotiating tool with Beijing.
“We welcome normal business exchanges, economic activities and people-to-people exchanges with different economies, including the U.S.,” Lee said, adding that there are more than 1,200 American companies with a presence in Hong Kong.
Last month, the international financial hub regained its ranking as the world’s freest economy in a report by the Fraser Institute, a think tank based in Vancouver, after slipping below Singapore last year for the first time since the index began in 1970. The report said that while the rankings had been reversed, Hong Kong’s rating “continues to fall precipitously.”
“We continue to sound the alarm bell about signs of declining economic — and other — freedoms in Hong Kong,” it said.
The Hong Kong government hailed the city’s return atop the rankings, emphasizing that it “protects the rights and freedoms” of Hong Kong residents in strict accordance with the law, and that “the interests of enterprises and investors are also fully safeguarded in accordance with the law.”
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