Media Tycoon Jimmy Lai’s Ups and Downs With the CCP

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, center, who founded local newspaper Apple Daily, is arrested by police officers at his home in Hong Kong on April 18, 2020. Vincent Yu/AP Photo

The colorful life of former Next Media founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying resembles a plot from a novel. He founded Next Media and Apple Daily, supported democratic movements, and changed the Hong Kong media ecosystem.

Some people might feel that Lai is a big bad wolf in the media industry; they might think that he would do whatever it takes to grab the first exclusive story and expose someone’s private activities. Others might feel that he turned professional news into an entertainment circus.

But there is also a group of people who believe that Lai’s loyalty, beliefs, and fight for freedom and democracy was the selling point of his newspaper, and eventually has cost him his freedom.

Lai has always kept and followed his faith throughout his rise and fall.

Escaped the CCP

Born in 1948 in mainland China, Jimmy Lai’s life is a classic “rise from the bottom” story. Lai experienced the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) repression when he was growing up. His mother was sent to a labor camp after experiencing “struggle sessions” in which she was publicly humiliated and called a “class enemy.” When he was 12, Lai fled from China with just one dollar in his pocket.

When he arrived in Hong Kong, Lai did all kinds of work to survive. But, by the time he was 33 he built Giordano, his clothing empire.

Support Democracy

From a penniless migrant to a clothing chain store owner, Lai rewrote his life in Hong Kong, which was still unfettered. Wealth did not change him. In 1989, the Tiananmen Square Massacre sparked opposition to the regime in Hong Kong. Protests were regular events, and Giordano donated 200,000 T-shirts to protesters to wear during their rallies.

In the 1990s, Lai dipped into the media business. He founded Next Media and Apple Daily in 1995. Lai once wrote an open letter in his magazine, NextMag, criticizing the former CCP Premier Li Peng. The letter cost him his Chinese market as the regime banned Lai’s businesses in China.

Lai was forced to sell his shares in the clothing company he founded, and completely stepped away from it in 2000.

Pros and Cons of Lai’s Media Influence

When Next Media was first founded, Jimmy Lai turned the media ecosystem upside down. NextMag was known for exposing celebrity scandals, gossip, and the wrongdoings of those in power.

The birth of Apple Daily shocked the Hong Kong press industry since Apple Daily was the very first newspaper printed in color. Lai adopted the concept of yellow journalism, pursued celebrities, and turned news into entertainment.

The public accused Lai and his media group of having a bad influence on Hong Kong teenagers. Looking back at his promotion advert for Apple Daily, in which he appeared to be covered in arrows, it perfectly depicted Lai and the Next Media as a target all over Hong Kong.

In addition to exposing scandals in the political and business world, Lai proactively supported democratic movements. From the protests against Article 23 legislation in 2003, the Umbrella Revolution in 2014, and the anti-extradition movement in 2019, to the June 4 commemoration vigils (for the Tiananmen Square Massacre) and all other political struggles in Hong Kong, Next Media Group and Lai himself always stood alongside the democratic camp.

In the memoir of the late columnist Li Yi, Li said he told Lai not to become a political pawn for large-scale rallies through his company Apple Daily.

Lai felt differently.

Lai thought he should stand by democracy and show his stance on fighting against the CCP and anyone who was pro-CCP.

“I felt that Jimmy Lai is straightforward but not domineering,” Li said. He thought Lai was very objective when it came to his column. “When I was the editor-in-chief for the Apple Daily’s column, I invited Raymond Wong Yuk-man to write and publish some of the articles that criticized Lai. He did not oppose it after knowing about it.”

Anti-CCP, but Mislead to Smear Falun Gong

Although Jimmy Lai’s anti-communist position was clear, he was also well aware of the trouble this political stance might cause to the newspaper. According to former Apple Daily employees, the company believed that reporting on “organ harvesting” by the Chinese Communist Party was “too sensitive,” so they chose to keep silent and not write on that topic.

In 2014, Apple Daily published an advertisement for a few days, that smeared the spiritual discipline Falun Gong for the Chinese Communist Party. The same ad was also published in two other Hong Kong newspapers on the same day. The Apple Daily version did not post the word “advertisement” in the top right corner as standard adverts usually do.

Lai truly believed that Hong Kong’s freedom and the rule of law were protected and guaranteed by the Basic Law—as long as there were no touchy articles against the CCP, the newspaper would survive.

However, Apple Daily was forced to cease operations in June 2021.

Hope for a Better Tomorrow

Perhaps the headline “A Better Tomorrow For Hong Kong” on July 2, 1997, signified his message.

Jimmy Lai further increased his investment in Next Media instead of retreating from the market. He also publicly stated that he had no desire to leave Hong Kong.

In Li Yi’s memoir, he said: “In terms of belief or actual action, Jimmy Lai may be the most optimistic person believing in Hong Kong remaining unchanged after the Handover. However, under the rules of the authoritarian government [promises made] do not mean anything. You will still have the same terrible fate. It is similar to the people who bow down to the CCP loyalty in Hong Kong.”

Arrested by the CCP

In 2020, Lai was arrested by the Hong Kong National Security Bureau on multiple charges. Lai was tried, found guilty of numerous illegal assemblies, and sentenced to 20 months in prison.

Lai remains in jail to this date.

The outside world expected Lai would get a life sentence if his conviction was based on the National Security Law.

His Next Media empire was crushed and ceased operations in 2021 when the Hong Kong government froze the group’s assets and operating funds.

‘I Owe Everything to HK’

In April 2021, Apple Daily published a letter handwritten by Lai: “The situation in Hong Kong is increasingly chilling. Because of that, we need to love and cherish ourselves more. Our era might be falling in front of us, but it is also the time we should stand tall. My dear colleagues, please take care.”

Jimmy Lai represents a story of the past two generations, from being a stowaway to get to Hong Kong to gradually becoming a successful serial entrepreneur.

The sovereignty before the handover to China allowed him to succeed. So he decided to give back to his home for the rest of his life.

Lai once stated, “I do not regret supporting the protest movement. I came empty-handed. I owe everything to Hong Kong. Perhaps now is the time I repay. Life is about plenty of things other than money.”

Jimmy Lai has made many friends in his life but just as many enemies. Even though the outside world might criticize Next Media, history will inscribe the sacrifices Lai made for democracy.