Former Hong Kong media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has denied concealing a plan to meet the US vice-president when he unsuccessfully sought court permission to visit his granddaughter in the country five years ago.
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But Lai on Monday acknowledged it would have been a mistake to go on the proposed trip in 2020, as his meetings could have amounted to collusion with foreign powers under the Beijing-imposed national security law that took effect on June 30 that year.
The 77-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid newspaper returned to the witness box after the Lunar New Year holiday, as his oral testimony in his marathon trial entered the 34th day at West Kowloon Court.
Lai is standing trial on two conspiracy charges of collusion with foreign forces and a third of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications.
The three presiding High Court judges appeared increasingly frustrated by the lengthy proceedings, with Madam Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping and Mr Justice Alex Lee Wan-tang repeatedly telling Lai to give direct answers to questions from prosecutors.
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Madam Justice Susana D’Almada Remedios also voiced her frustration with what she saw as the tabloid founder’s inconsistent answers, saying he “just agrees again and disagrees again” on various topics.