jimmy lai

At his height Jimmy Lai was a newspaper owner and tycoon who loved to cause trouble. But he’s been behind bars for more than a thousand days with no end in sight. The Hong Kong authorities, assisted by Beijing, seem determined to silence him. Jimmy Lai is a British citizen. This is the story of one man’s efforts to take on the Chinese state.

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This episode contains strong language.

Jimmy Lai was born in mainland China but made his fortune in Hong Kong, starting as a sweatshop worker and becoming a clothing tycoon. After the Tiananmen massacre in 1989, he turned his attention to the media, launching publications critical of China’s Communist Party.

“I believe in the media,” he told Austin Ramzy, a Hong Kong reporter for The New York Times. “By delivering information, you’re actually delivering freedom.”

In August, he was arrested under Hong Kong’s new Beijing-sponsored national security law.

Today, we talk to Mr. Lai about his life, his arrest and campaigning for democracy in the face of China’s growing power.

Guests: Austin Ramzy and Tiffany May, who cover Hong Kong for The Times, spoke with Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy media tycoon and founder of Apple Daily.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• In August, Mr. Lai, his two sons and four executives from Apple Daily were arrested under the new national security law. The publication was a target and a test case for the government’s authority over the media.