Activist says he was told to flee to Taiwan, then the UK

A key prosecution witness in tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s trial has said he was instructed to flee to Taiwan by boat and find his way to the United Kingdom following his arrest under the Beijing-imposed national security law four years ago.

Detained activist Andy Li Yuhin yesterday explained his unsuccessful escape attempt from Hong Kong in late August 2020 at the request of Lai’s lawyers on the 58th day of the mogul’s highprofile trial.

Apple Daily founder Lai, 76, has denied two conspiracy charges of collusion with foreign forces and a third of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications.

Li became a prosecution witness after pleading guilty to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces in 2021.

He was a core member of the “Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong” lobbying group, which prosecutors alleged was sponsored by Lai to trigger sanctions and other hostile acts against Hong Kong and the mainland.

The programmer turned activist was also among 12 Hongkongers caught by the Chinese coastguard in 2020 in a case that attracted global attention and concerns over their treatment.

Li told West Kowloon Court that the original plan was for him to surrender himself in Taiwan before hitchhiking to the Czech Republic upon his release, as it was expected his arrival on the island would coincide with a visit by a Czech official.

“It was said that there would be a Czech delegation to Taiwan, so I might be able to make it to the [delegation’s return] flight to the Czech Republic,” he said.

The activist was told to “find a way to go to London” after landing in Prague, the court heard.

Lai’s defence counsel, Marc Corlett, said a person called “T”, an alias for paralegal Wayland Chan Tsz-wah, had assured Li that arrangements would be made for him after Hong Kong police released him on bail on August 12 that year. The activist confirmed Corlett’s remarks.

Prosecutors earlier argued Chan was the middleman linking up the activist with Lai and relaying the latter’s instructions to further the tycoon’s anti-China conspiracy.

Li confirmed the defence’s claim that he was instructed to go to Tseung Kwan O on August 18 and was moved from one “safe house” to another while he took steps to avoid being tracked.

He also agreed he was told to take a Taiwan-bound speedboat in the early hours of August 23 and that his personal information had been sent in advance to the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan’s top cross-strait policy planner.

Corlett also asked Li to confirm his knowledge about Chan’s affiliation with radical protesters during the 2019 anti-government protests. The witness said he was told Chan’s “valiant team” had “messed with” Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong in July 2019 and was involved in a mob attack at an MTR station during the same month.

Prosecutors are expected to call Chan, who pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy charge targeting Li, as a witness when the trial resumes today.