Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying (second left) is arrested by police in Hong Kong on Aug 10, 2020 on suspicion of breaching the National Security Law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying was charged on Friday with colluding with foreign or external forces to endanger national security.

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The case will be mentioned at the West Kowloon Magistracy Saturday morning.

Jimmy Lai was denied bail and remanded in custody on Dec 3 after being charged with fraud. He is also involved in four other cases for his alleged role in unlawful rallies during last year’s social unrest

Lai, 73, is suspected of calling on foreign countries in social platforms and media interviews to sanction Hong Kong and Hong Kong officials, according to local media reports.

Lai was denied bail and remanded in custody on Dec 3 after being charged with fraud. He is also involved in four other cases for his alleged role in unlawful rallies during last year’s social unrest.

Also on Friday, Tony Chung Hon-lam, a 19-year-old student activist, has been found guilty of desecrating the national flag and taking part in an unlawful assembly.

Chung was charged with the two offenses for his role in a protest outside the Legislative Council on May 14, 2019.

Magistrate Peony Wong Nga-yan of Eastern Magistrates’ Courts said video footage showed that Chung attempted to grab the national flag, broke the pole of the flag, and threw the flag in the air, which was an act of desecration.

Chung will be sentenced on Dec 29.

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According to a social media post by police on Friday, only 2,389 of the 10,171 people arrested during the social unrest that began in June 2019 were charged. The most frequently charged offenses were rioting, unlawful assembly, and criminal damage.

Of those charged, 826 had completed judicial proceedings and 679 were subject to legal consequences.