Australia grants asylum to former Hong Kong lawmaker and pro-democracy activist
Jessie Pang and Lewis Jackson
Sat, August 16, 2025
Former lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung speaks to members of the media in Hong Kong
HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) -Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Ted Hui has been granted asylum in Australia, the former lawmaker said on Saturday, more than four years after he left Hong Kong, where he faces criminal charges over the 2019 pro-democracy protests.
Hui said he received written notice from the Australian Department of Home Affairs on Friday approving his claim and that his wife, children and parents were also granted visas.
"When people around me say 'congratulations' to me, although I politely thank them, I can't help but feel sad in my heart. How to congratulate a political refugee who misses his hometown?" posted on Facebook.
"If it weren't for political persecution, I would never have thought of living in a foreign land. Immigrants can always return to their home towns to visit relatives at any time; Exiles have no home."
The Home Affairs Department did not immediately respond to emailed questions sent after business hours.
The Hong Kong government said in a statement it was "against the harbouring of criminals in any form by any country". China's foreign ministry did not respond to questions about the decision.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Beijing last month as part of his administration's years-long push to improve ties with China.
A former Democratic Party lawmaker, Hui left Hong Kong in late 2020 after facing criminal charges over the 2019 pro-democracy protests.
In 2023 Hong Kong accused him and seven others of national security offences, including incitement to secession, and put HK$1 million ($130,000) bounties on their heads.
Fellow Hong Kong activist Tony Chung said on Sunday he had been granted asylum by Britain, in a post on his X account. He was sentenced to three years and seven months in prison in late 2021 after being convicted of secession and money laundering.
Pro-democracy businessman Jimmy Lai is on trial in Hong Kong on charges related to a national security law imposed by Beijing and alleged sedition.
($1 = 7.8258 Hong Kong dollars)
(Reporting by Lewis Jackson in Beijing and Jessie Pang in Hong Kong; Additional reporting by Joe Cash in Beijing; Editing by Jane Merriman and Kim Coghill)
Hong Kong court hears closing arguments in tycoon Jimmy Lai's trial
Holmes CHAN
Mon, August 18, 2025
AFP
The 77-year-old founder of the Apple Daily newspaper has pleaded not guilty to two counts of foreign collusion (ISAAC LAWRENCE)ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP/AFPMore
Hong Kong prosecutors on Monday began closing arguments in the trial of pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, saying the septuagenarian was fit to attend hearings after an adjournment last week to equip him with a heart monitor.
The 77-year-old founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper has pleaded not guilty to two counts of foreign collusion, with authorities accusing him of using various platforms to lobby Western nations to sanction China and Hong Kong.
The charges are brought under the city's national security law, which Beijing imposed after the finance hub saw huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.
The trial was scheduled to begin its final stages last Thursday but was postponed twice: first due to bad weather and then to address Lai's medical needs.
The defence had said on Friday that Lai was experiencing heart "palpitations" and had an episode where he felt like he was "collapsing".
Prosecutor Anthony Chau said on Monday that Lai had been prescribed medication and was wearing a heart rate monitoring device, which was given to him on Friday.
"(Lai) has made no complaint on his heart condition or general health condition and is fit to attend court," Chau said.
Judge Esther Toh also read out a memo by a senior medical officer saying that Lai was "physically and mentally fit for court".
Concerns have been raised previously over Lai's health by his family and rights groups.
The media tycoon has been kept behind bars since December 2020, reportedly in solitary confinement, and has lost weight during that time.
The Hong Kong government said in a statement on Friday that the "medical care received by Lai Chee-ying in custody is adequate and comprehensive".
"In view of (Lai's) claims of heart palpitations, after a visiting specialist from the Hospital Authority conducted a detailed examination on him on August 7, no abnormality was found," the statement read.
- Legal issues debated -
Dressed in a white shirt and pale windbreaker, Lai appeared in court on Monday without any medical equipment visible on his body.
He smiled and waved to supporters and family members in the public gallery when he entered.
He listened to Monday's court proceedings via a set of headphones and closed his eyes for a few minutes during the morning session.
The longrunning trial, which began in December 2023, is entering its final stages as Western nations and rights groups continue to call for Lai's release.
Aside from the collusion offence -- which could land him in prison for life -- Lai is also charged with "seditious publication" related to 161 op-eds carrying his byline.
Prosecutors are expected to take two days to make closing arguments, Chau said.
He spent Monday morning addressing legal issues, such as the interpretation of "collusion" under Hong Kong's national security law.
Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said last week that Hong Kong should "drop the baseless charges" against Lai, adding that holding him in "prolonged solitary detention while his health fails has been outrageously cruel".
US President Donald Trump told a Fox News radio programme last week that he brought up the tycoon's case with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"I'm going to do everything I can to save him," the outlet quoted Trump as saying.
The Hong Kong government last week said it "strongly disapproved and rejected the slanderous remarks made by external forces" regarding Lai's case.
Hong Kong court begins hearing final arguments in Jimmy Lai's national security trial
KANIS LEUNG
Sun, August 17, 2025
AP
FILE - Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai pauses during an interview in Hong Kong on July 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS
People wait to enter the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts ahead of the closing statements for Hong Kong activist publisher Jimmy Lai's national security trial in Hong Kong, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court heard final arguments Monday in the landmark national security trial of former pro-democracy newspaper founder Jimmy Lai, who could be sentenced to up to life in prison if he is convicted.
Lai, 77, was arrested in 2020 under a national security law imposed by Beijing following anti-government protests in 2019. He is being tried on charges of colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to issue seditious publications.
Lai founded Apple Daily, one of the local media outlets that was most critical of Hong Kong's government. His high-profile case that has stretched nearly 150 days, far beyond the original estimate of 80 days, is widely seen as a trial of press freedom and a test for judicial independence in the Asian financial hub.
It is unclear when a verdict will be delivered.
Arguments focus on alleged sanction calls
Prosecutor Anthony Chau on Monday discussed the security law concerning the collusion charges, arguing the request to impose sanctions must also include officials and not only states. He planned to lay out other principle issues in the afternoon and make his closing statement Tuesday.
Earlier, prosecutors alleged Lai asked foreign countries, especially the United States, to take actions against Beijing “under the guise of fighting for freedom and democracy.”
On the first day of his testimony, Lai denied he had asked then-Vice President Mike Pence and then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to take action against Hong Kong and China during the 2019 protests.
When Lai's lawyer questioned him about an Apple Daily report saying he had asked the U.S. government to sanction Beijing and Hong Kong leaders, he said he must have discussed it with Pompeo, as he had no reason to doubt the accuracy of the report by the now-defunct newspaper he founded.
But Lai said he would not have encouraged foreign sanctions after the national security law was enacted on June 30, 2020.
Lai's health causes delay
Closing arguments have been delayed twice, first due to weather then to concerns over Lai's health. On Friday, his lawyer, Robert Pang, said Lai had experienced heart palpitations while in prison. The judges wanted him to secure a heart monitor and medication first.
After Friday’s hearing, the Hong Kong government alleged foreign media outlets had attempted to mislead the public about Lai's medical care. It said a medical examination of Lai found no abnormalities and that the medical care he received in custody was adequate.
When Lai entered the courtroom, he waved and smiled to those sitting in the public gallery and briefly instructed his legal team in a voice audible to public attendees. He closed his eyes at times when the prosecution laid out its legal arguments.
The heart monitor was delivered to Lai and he had no complaints about his health, Chau said.
Case draws attention from foreign governments
Lai's years long detention in solidarity confinement has drawn concerns from foreign governments and rights groups. U.S. President Donald Trump, before being elected to his second term in November, said he would talk to Chinese leader Xi Jinping to seek Lai's release: “I will get him out.”
In a Fox News radio interview released Aug. 14, Trump denied saying he would save Lai, but rather that he would bring the issue up.
“I’ve already brought it up, and I’m going to do everything I can to save him,” he said.
China has accused Lai of stirring a rise in anti-China sentiments in Hong Kong and said it firmly opposes the interference of other countries in its internal affairs.
Dozens of people waited in the rain Monday for a seat in the main courtroom to see Lai. Former Apple Daily reader Susan Li said she worried about Lai's health as he looked visibly thinner and she would continue to pray for him.
“I wanted to let him know we are still here,” she said.
When Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to China in 1997, Beijing promised to retain the city’s civil liberties for 50 years. But critics say the promise has become threadbare after the introduction of the security law, which Chinese and Hong Kong authorities insist was necessary for the city’s stability.
FILE - Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai pauses during an interview in Hong Kong on July 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS
People wait to enter the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts ahead of the closing statements for Hong Kong activist publisher Jimmy Lai's national security trial in Hong Kong, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court heard final arguments Monday in the landmark national security trial of former pro-democracy newspaper founder Jimmy Lai, who could be sentenced to up to life in prison if he is convicted.
Lai, 77, was arrested in 2020 under a national security law imposed by Beijing following anti-government protests in 2019. He is being tried on charges of colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to issue seditious publications.
Lai founded Apple Daily, one of the local media outlets that was most critical of Hong Kong's government. His high-profile case that has stretched nearly 150 days, far beyond the original estimate of 80 days, is widely seen as a trial of press freedom and a test for judicial independence in the Asian financial hub.
It is unclear when a verdict will be delivered.
Arguments focus on alleged sanction calls
Prosecutor Anthony Chau on Monday discussed the security law concerning the collusion charges, arguing the request to impose sanctions must also include officials and not only states. He planned to lay out other principle issues in the afternoon and make his closing statement Tuesday.
Earlier, prosecutors alleged Lai asked foreign countries, especially the United States, to take actions against Beijing “under the guise of fighting for freedom and democracy.”
On the first day of his testimony, Lai denied he had asked then-Vice President Mike Pence and then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to take action against Hong Kong and China during the 2019 protests.
When Lai's lawyer questioned him about an Apple Daily report saying he had asked the U.S. government to sanction Beijing and Hong Kong leaders, he said he must have discussed it with Pompeo, as he had no reason to doubt the accuracy of the report by the now-defunct newspaper he founded.
But Lai said he would not have encouraged foreign sanctions after the national security law was enacted on June 30, 2020.
Lai's health causes delay
Closing arguments have been delayed twice, first due to weather then to concerns over Lai's health. On Friday, his lawyer, Robert Pang, said Lai had experienced heart palpitations while in prison. The judges wanted him to secure a heart monitor and medication first.
After Friday’s hearing, the Hong Kong government alleged foreign media outlets had attempted to mislead the public about Lai's medical care. It said a medical examination of Lai found no abnormalities and that the medical care he received in custody was adequate.
When Lai entered the courtroom, he waved and smiled to those sitting in the public gallery and briefly instructed his legal team in a voice audible to public attendees. He closed his eyes at times when the prosecution laid out its legal arguments.
The heart monitor was delivered to Lai and he had no complaints about his health, Chau said.
Case draws attention from foreign governments
Lai's years long detention in solidarity confinement has drawn concerns from foreign governments and rights groups. U.S. President Donald Trump, before being elected to his second term in November, said he would talk to Chinese leader Xi Jinping to seek Lai's release: “I will get him out.”
In a Fox News radio interview released Aug. 14, Trump denied saying he would save Lai, but rather that he would bring the issue up.
“I’ve already brought it up, and I’m going to do everything I can to save him,” he said.
China has accused Lai of stirring a rise in anti-China sentiments in Hong Kong and said it firmly opposes the interference of other countries in its internal affairs.
Dozens of people waited in the rain Monday for a seat in the main courtroom to see Lai. Former Apple Daily reader Susan Li said she worried about Lai's health as he looked visibly thinner and she would continue to pray for him.
“I wanted to let him know we are still here,” she said.
When Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to China in 1997, Beijing promised to retain the city’s civil liberties for 50 years. But critics say the promise has become threadbare after the introduction of the security law, which Chinese and Hong Kong authorities insist was necessary for the city’s stability.
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