Hong Kong activist collaborated with 3 overseas individuals to have Japanese sanctions imposed on city and China, Jimmy Lai trial told

Messaging logs showed de Pulford, the founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), discussed with Li how they could enlist Browder as Kanno drummed up support for an August 2020 bill to punish human rights abuses in overseas jurisdictions, particularly Hong Kong.

The British activist said Browder, who he described as a “dynamo” with “a huge amount of money”, was excited about Kanno’s work and was keen to help.

Li, who appeared as a prosecution witness, said he and other Japan-based activists had assisted communication between Kanno and Browder and considered when and how the bill could best be put to the Diet.

Browder was experienced in pushing Magnitsky-style sanctions abroad and could offer them the capital and connections to achieve that, Li added.

Lai, 76, faces two conspiracy charges of collusion with foreign forces, as well as a third count of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications.

Prosecutors accused the Apple Daily founder of financing the “Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong” (SWHK) lobbying group, set up to promote sanctions and other hostile acts by foreign administrations.

Kanno, de Pulford and Browder were among four non-Chinese individuals named as co-conspirators in the indictment.

The court heard IPAC, which prosecutors said was a coalition of overseas lawmakers critical of China, discussed the appropriate responses to the Beijing national security law days after it took effect in June 2020.

Activist lobbied foreign politicians to sever Hong Kong treaties, Lai trial told

One of the alliance’s goals, according to the meeting’s minutes, was to steer foreign governments into pledging “no one shall be extradited to Hong Kong or China regardless of nationality”, as well as reviewing or repealing existing extradition legislation in member states.

Anthony Chau Tin-hang, for the prosecution, sought to establish the cause-and-effect relationship between the IPAC meeting and later actions taken by overseas administrations to suspend legal agreements with Hong Kong.

He highlighted Canada’s suspension of its extradition treaty with Hong Kong soon after the meeting, as well as Britain’s plan to do the same later the same month.

A further meeting was held in early August that year, with wanted activists Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Ray Wong Toi-yeung joining 22 parliamentarians from 14 countries in discussions about Hong Kong.

Law and Wong were said to have explored “potential avenues for future action” with the panel, including discouraging British judges from serving on Hong Kong’s top court as non-permanent jurists and support for “shadow parliaments” abroad.

The conference also decided that member states should draw up plans to reduce their countries’ dependency on China.

‘UK politician asked Jimmy Lai to cover pushback against Hong Kong security law’

Chau asked Li to explain his text conversations with “T”, a middleman who connected the activist to Lai, later identified as Wayland Chan Tsz-wah, a paralegal.

Chan asked Li whether he had “got everything in Hong Kong settled” before the “fight” – a reference to the latter’s lobbying efforts.

Li said that was not a problem and implied the city’s authorities could arrest him and detain his family members for questioning regardless of any actions he took.

“Everyone on Hong Kong’s side, including T, might be grilled [by authorities because of me],” he told the court.

“So at least I took care of my family members, meaning they didn’t have to worry, as the grilling would come anyway if that was how things turned out.”

The trial continues on Tuesday.