Tony Kwok says Apple Daily founder’s influence as opposition leader in Hong Kong will decline if, as seems probable, Joe Biden beats Donald Trump
Apple Daily, owned by Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, the de facto head of the anti-establishment and local subversive elements, is notorious for manufacturing and publishing fake news. This news group has faced the most libel lawsuits of all the local media. For example, in 2001, it was ordered by the High Court to pay a record HK$3.67 million (US$473,432) to a female solicitor for libel, for making up a story that she had fled with a client’s money. In 2012, the court reprimanded the group for causing serious damage to international movie star Zhang Ziyi’s reputation and ordered it to pay her HK$396,000 for libel. Other victims include the then executive councillor Franklin Lam Fan-keung, former legislative councillor Chim Pui-chung and former chairman of the MTR Frederick Ma Si-hang, for which Apple Daily had to publish formal apologies and pay an undisclosed sum for libel damages in settlement. During the violent social unrest in 2019, Apple Daily published fake news almost every day alleging unsubstantiated police brutality. The biggest joke came when Lai was himself arrested by police for violating the new National Security Law in June. In an ironic self-parody, whether intentional or not, the paper carried a front-page advertisement the next day saying: “An Apple a day keeps the fake news away!” It quickly became the laughing stock of Hong Kong society.
Lai and Simon’s connivance may have breached the National Security Law. By making a false report suggesting that Hunter Biden might have illegitimate business dealings in China and bribed Chinese officials, the conspiracy to fabricate such a fake report could amount to an offence of subversion or collusion with a foreign power to endanger national security
Hence, it is not entirely out of character, nor surprising, to read that Lai and his top aide Mark Simon were implicated in funding a fake report compiled under a fake persona to discredit US presidential candidate Joe Biden ahead of the Nov 3 US presidential election. It accused his son, Hunter, of having illegitimate business ties with China and of paying bribes to Chinese officials. The revelation came from the prestigious National Broadcasting Corp in its report: “How a fake persona laid the groundwork for a Hunter Biden conspiracy deluge”. It is truly amazing to note that the so-called author of the fake report turned out to be a fabricated identity, with his photo generated by artificial intelligence. This fits in with the modus operandi of Apple Daily, which frequently used artificial means to doctor pictures to support their fake news in the past.
As expected, Lai immediately pleaded innocent and claimed that he had no prior knowledge of the affair. Simon quickly came to his boss’ rescue to take the fall, assumed full responsibility for the affair and tendered his resignation, though not with immediate effect. But anyone familiar with Lai’s track record and mindset would not give any credence to his protestations of innocence.
In initiating an important project with foreseeable serious consequences, no personal assistant in the world would keep his boss in the dark. Secondly, based on past investigations of Simon’s role in financing opposition politicians and political parties, he apparently always prepared a claim form for expenses in advance for Lai’s endorsement and signature, which is standard practice for any established company. There is no reason why he did not do the same in this case.
It’s interesting to note that the fake report was widely publicized in the Taiwan Apple Daily, but not so prominently in the Hong Kong edition. It’s not unreasonable to surmise that Lai was wary of the National Security Law in Hong Kong but was confident that the Taiwan government would not trouble him about the report.
The whole scandal raised several interesting observations:
Firstly, for those in Hong Kong who worship US-style democracy and electoral practice and want Hong Kong to emulate them, it shatters their idealistic dream of fair elections. The reality is that American presidential campaigns are always ridden with dirty political tricks, including character assassinations and fake news. It is truly a dog-eat-dog contest with no moral bottom lines. These misled youthful radical political activists, some of whom regularly waved the US flag in demonstrations, should have now woken up to the fact that all along they have been aspiring to a political model which exists only in their daydreams. Hong Kong deserves a fair electoral system, but certainly not the American model.
Secondly, this sordid affair illuminates Lai’s relationship with the Trump administration and explains his high-profile warm receptions at the White House by Trump, Vice-President Mike Pence and the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the height of last year’s turbulent situation. It was his reward for stirring trouble in Hong Kong to cause harm to China. Simon, with his US Navy intelligence background, is likely to be the middleman between the CIA and opposition forces in Hong Kong, led by Lai. The funds donated by Lai to local opposition political parties might not necessarily come from his own pocket. It’s noteworthy that when Lai was arrested for breaching the National Security Law, it quickly drew protests from both Trump and Pompeo who even praised Lai as a fine man. Because of their close relationship, it would not be surprising if Trump had asked Lai to use his media influence to boost Trump’s re-election prospects. It would explain why Lai and Simon went out of their way to fabricate a damaging report to smear Biden.
Thirdly, Lai and Simon’s connivance may have breached the National Security Law. By making a false report suggesting that Hunter Biden might have illegitimate business dealings in China and bribed Chinese officials, the conspiracy to fabricate such a fake report could amount to an offence of subversion or collusion with a foreign power to endanger national security. Both should be formally investigated by the Police National Security Department. At the same time, the FBI should also investigate both the Hong Kong and Taiwan editions of Apple Daily for illegally interfering with the US presidential election. It would be interesting to see if the FBI and local police could agree on a joint investigation. If it is, as Lai claims, that Simon took the company’s funds to conduct illegal business without the principal’s permission, this should amount to fraud and corruption and the Police Commercial Crime Bureau and the ICAC should also look into the matter. As Apple Daily is a publicly listed company, the Securities and Futures Commission should also ensure that the interests of shareholders are fully protected.
Finally, according to the latest polls, Biden will probably be elected, in which case Lai will lose favor with the new US government and his influence with local anti-establishment politicians and activists, will go quiet due to a lack of funding. With the perceived leadership vacuum, there will be a fierce internal struggle among the opposition for leadership to replace Lai.
The author is an adjunct professor of HKU Space and council member of the Chinese Association for Hong Kong and Macao Studies.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
