63 Facts About Jimmy Lai

Lai Chee-ying, known as Jimmy Lai, is a Hong Kong businessman and politician.

Jimmy Lai founded Giordano, an Asian clothing retailer, Next Digital, a Hong Kong-listed media company, and the popular newspaper Apple Daily.

Jimmy Lai is one of the main contributors to the pro-democracy camp, especially to the Democratic Party.

Jimmy Lai regarded his imprisonment as "the summit of his own life".

In November 2024, Jimmy Lai testified that he might have asked US officials to sanction Beijing and Hong Kong.

Jimmy Lai was born in Canton, China, on 8 December 1947.

In 1975, Jimmy Lai used his year-end bonus on Hong Kong stocks to raise cash and bought a bankrupt garment factory, Comitex, where he began producing sweaters.

In 1996, Jimmy Lai sold his stake in Giordano, leaving the garment industry for media and politics, keeping Comitex active as a shell company.

Comitex, along with other private companies controlled by Jimmy Lai, was reported to be the financial tools for his political activities and donations.

In 1997 Jimmy Lai put up the capital for his twin sister, Si Wai, to acquire numerous properties in the Southern Ontario wine and vacation region of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Jimmy Lai attributed this business failure to overconfidence and a lack of viable business strategy.

In 2014, leaked documents showed Jimmy Lai paid former US deputy defence secretary and former World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz US$75,000 for his help with projects in Myanmar.

Jimmy Lai reportedly remitted approximately US$213,000 to businessman Phone Win, with whom Jimmy Lai's Hong Kong-registered Best Combo company reportedly collaborated on Yangon real estate projects.

Jimmy Lai pioneered a reader-centric philosophy with paparazzi journalism in Hong Kong based on publications such as USA Today and The Sun.

Jimmy Lai's best-selling Next Magazine and Apple Daily newspaper featured a mix of racy tabloid material and news items oriented to the mass market with plenty of colour and graphics that attracted a wide range of readers, some of whom were critics of Lai and his ideology.

In 2020, Jimmy Lai launched an English version of Apple Daily.

Jimmy Lai launched Taiwanese editions of Next Magazine in 2001 and Apple Daily in 2003, taking on heavily established rivals who made considerable effort to thwart him.

In October 2006, Jimmy Lai launched Sharp Daily, a free daily newspaper targeting Taipei commuters.

Jimmy Lai called the Chinese Communist Party "a monopoly that charges a premium for lousy service".

China's government retaliated against Jimmy Lai by starting a shutdown of Giordano shops, prompting him to sell out of the company to save it.

Jimmy Lai had frequently faced hostility from the many Beijing-backed tycoons, including attempts to force supplier boycotts of his companies.

Jimmy Lai faced a lengthy battle to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which Lai sidestepped through a reverse takeover.

Jimmy Lai managed to list the company in 1999 by acquiring Paramount Publishing Group in October of that year.

Jimmy Lai later said that he had personally "nothing to do with" the report, but he admitted his senior executive, Mark Simon, had "worked with the project".

Jimmy Lai admitted on 25 November 2024 that he told Cheung Kim-hung about featuring more negative news in an English edition of Apple Daily, which was launched in May 2020, about a month before the enactment of the Beijing-imposed security law.

Jimmy Lai is a longtime champion of the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement.

Jimmy Lai's advocacy had been expressed through his business ventures, such as distributing Giordano t-shirts with portraits of student leaders.

In May 2020, Jimmy Lai told CNN news that US president Donald Trump was "the only one who can save us" from China, with Apple Daily publishing a similar plea addressed to Trump the same month.

On 13 December 2014, Jimmy Lai was one of the pro-democracy leaders arrested during the clearance of the Admiralty protest site of the Umbrella Movement.

Jimmy Lai had been the target of hostile attacks and disturbances, including the leaving of machetes, axes and threatening messages in his driveway.

Jimmy Lai had been rammed by a car, and his home was firebombed several times, most recently in 2019.

Between July and November 2019 Jimmy Lai was able to meet with US Vice President Mike Pence and later with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to discuss the Hong Kong protests.

Jimmy Lai said, 'We in Hong Kong are fighting for the shared values of the US against China.

Jimmy Lai later met with then US National Security Adviser John Bolton.

Jimmy Lai's case was scheduled to be heard at Eastern Law Court on 5 May On 18 April 2020, Lai was among 15 high-profile democracy figures arrested in Hong Kong.

On 3 September 2020, Jimmy Lai was found not guilty of the Oriental Daily criminal intimidation charge.

Jimmy Lai tearfully admitted his fear for his family as he continues his activism.

Jimmy Lai stated that if he ended up in jail, then he was living his life meaningfully.

Jimmy Lai stated that "If [the government] can induce fear in you, that's the easiest way to control you", adding that inducing fear was the cheapest and most effective way to control people.

On 10 August 2020, Jimmy Lai was arrested at his home for alleged collusion with foreign forces and fraud.

The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, an agency of mainland China, welcomed the arrest and called for Jimmy Lai to be severely punished.

On 2 December 2020, Jimmy Lai reported to the police station as part of his bail condition for his August arrest related to ongoing national security law violation but was immediately arrested by police for alleged fraud, in that he and two Next Digital executives allegedly violated lease terms for Next Digital office space.

On 11 December 2020, Jimmy Lai became the first high-profile figure to be charged under the new national security law for allegedly conspiring and colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security.

The main evidence for those charges, according to the prosecutors, consisted of statements that Jimmy Lai had made on Twitter.

Jimmy Lai was accused of using Twitter and other media to request foreign sanctions against Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials.

On 9 February 2021, Hong Kong's top court denied his bail; a new bail application by Jimmy Lai was rejected on 19 February.

On 16 February 2021, Jimmy Lai was arrested while in prison for aiding activist Andy Li in his ill-fated attempt to escape to Taiwan with eleven others in August 2020.

In May 2021, Jimmy Lai's assets were all frozen by the Hong Kong government, including all the shares of Next Digital Limited and the property and local bank accounts of three companies owned by him.

On 28 May 2021, Jimmy Lai was sentenced to additional 14 months' imprisonment over his role in an unauthorised assembly in 2019.

On 13 December 2021, Jimmy Lai was sentenced to additional 13 months' imprisonment over his role in the banned vigil.

In late 2022, Paul Lam and the Department of Justice made several appeals to the court system, in an attempt to disallow Jimmy Lai from using a UK lawyer, Tim Owen.

Jimmy Lai remained in prison pending other charges related to national security.

The complaint alleged that Jimmy Lai Chee-ying receives only 50 minutes of outdoor exercise daily in prison, lacking necessary physical activity and sunlight exposure.

Additionally, the team asserted that as a devout Catholic, Jimmy Lai has been denied the opportunity to receive Holy Communion since the start of his trial.

On September 27,2024, Robertsons, the Hong Kong law firm representing Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, issued a statement clarifying that Jimmy Lai is receiving appropriate treatment in prison.

The statement noted that Jimmy Lai is aware he can receive Holy Communion through special arrangements with the Correctional Services Department, which requires a priest to hold a Mass specifically for him.

Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai denied allegations of seeking foreign interference during his national security trial, stating he only advocated for support of Hong Kong's freedoms.

Jimmy Lai has been asked to explain his meetings with then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and vice-president Mike Pence.

Jimmy Lai has distanced himself from the international lobbying group "Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong", saying that he only met with the group's leaders to persuade them not to resort to violence during protests.

The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai's Extraordinary Struggle for Freedom is a documentary film produced by American think tank Acton Institute.

In June 2021, Jimmy Lai received the 2021 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists, and in December that year, together with the staff of shuttered Apple Daily, the Golden Pen of Freedom Award from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers.

Sebastien Jimmy Lai received the latter award on behalf of his incarcerated father.

In May 2022, Jimmy Lai was awarded an honorary degree from The Catholic University of America, for his faith and decision to remain in Hong Kong to fight for democracy.