Lai, Born in 1948, was born in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. According to information his parents were sent to a work camp. In 1960, he traveled illegally to Hong Kong and worked as a child, first in a textile factory. In 1981 he bought with his Savings a bankrupt clothing company, and successfully established the fashion brand "Giordano", whose annual turnover is now estimated to be nine to ten billion US dollars. At the same time Lai has worked as a newspaper editor.

According to "the Economist" separated Lai in 1994 by the fashion business, after some of the Giordano stores had to be got to the mainland, unexplained problems and close. Shortly before that Lai in one of his Newspapers was under his name a critical and unflattering article published about the then Premier Li Peng.

"Apple Daily" is successful in Hong Kong and Taiwan

With the proceeds of the sale of its shares in Giordano, in 1995 he founded the media company "Next Media", which firmierte later at "Next Digital". At the same time, he founded the Chinese-language daily newspaper "Apple Daily".

in addition to sharp Beijing critical articles, the sheet is characterized above all by Sex and Crime content. With this mixture, Lai had also to Taiwan a success. Next Digital releases since 2003, also a Taiwanese edition of "Apple Daily". As of 2013, plans for the Adoption of the "Apple Daily" by a consortium of the mainland were known, there were large street protests, the Deal came to be.

At a distance from Beijing

in Particular, according to the "umbrella Revolution" has become known street protests in the fall of 2014, the already not simple conditions for Hong Kong journalists were more difficult, when it comes to politically sensitive, that is, China went critical issues.

According to the Hong Kong journalists Association, one-half of the editor of the 18 Hong Kong daily Newspapers has accepted the call to deputies of the Chinese people's Congress and consultative conference. A further four were good friends with mainland politicians. This shows that the greater part of the media have arranged go-getter with Beijing at least.

Jimmy Lai has held and holds, by contrast, distance to Beijing; "Apple Daily" also "unwanted" theme on the journalistic Agenda. "Read a day 'Apple Daily' fresh from the press, no one pulls me over the table," accused the publisher of Lai in the mid-1990s, in a TV advertisement, while he bit into an Apple.

"voice of the Pro-democracy movement"

Politically, the newspaper as its publisher for democracy and civil rights. On your title page of Apple Daily called on the Hong Kong to rallies. The China friendly Newspapers in Hong Kong refer to your competitors as a "mouthpiece" for the pro-democracy movement.

China's party organ "people's daily" called Jimmy Lai 2019 as the "leader of the disruptive gang of four in Hong Kong". An allusion to the "gang of four" of the cultural revolution (1966-1976), which caused great suffering in China. In addition to Lai, three veterans of the Hong Kong democracy refers to movement, Martin Lee, Albert Ho and Anson Chan, former Deputy in the city Parliament Legco.

The other anathematized the people's daily Lai as "anti-Chinese", he is collaborating with China hostile forces. In addition, he had been in the services of a CIA agent in Hong Kong. He had funded the "Occupy"movement, although he was writing with his newspaper business in the red. Where will the money come from, is in the opinion of the people newspaper-commentator "for all to see".

"'Apple Daily' comes out more"

Lais media company was not only economically under pressure, for example through advertising boycotts. In June 2013, crashed someone with a stolen car in the gate to the estate of Jimmy Lai, and left an axe and a Machete as a warning.

"'Apple Daily' is part of the Hong Kong civil society. We will print 'Apple Daily' further, until the license is revoked," said Lai in an Interview with DW at the end of June.

More arrests

democracy activist Joshua Wong fear fear more, and his own arrest. He told the Deutsche Welle that he did not know, when he's arrested and taken to mainland China won contracts to supply, but he had decided to continue to fight for freedom, "even if Beijing keeps on inventing new excuses to bring us to Silence." Amnesty International said in a press release : "The arrest of Jimmy Lai because of alleged collusion with foreign powers is a eschütternde Demonstration of how the Hong Kong authorities to use the new national safety law, to threaten the freedom of the press. The Green members of the European Parliament and the China critic Reinhard Bütikofer wrote on Twitter: "Jimmy Lai should be released immediately and all angklage points should be dropped."

author: Dang Yuan

*The post "Beijing arrested many years, is published, the adversary Jimmy Lai" of Deutsche Welle. Contact with the executives here.

Deutsche Welle

Date Of Update: 10 August 2020, 09:27