A Hong Kong court on Tuesday ruled in favor of an investment company and its executives in a libel and malicious falsehood case over a series of articles published by the now-defunct Apple Daily in late 2019.
The court ordered a total of HK$1.5 million ($191,222) in damages to be paid to China Innovation Investment Ltd, its chairman and chief executive Xiang Xin, and his wife Kung Ching.
In September 2024, the three plaintiffs sued Apple Daily Ltd, AD Internet Ltd and several other defendants over 10 articles published from Nov 23 to Dec 7, 2019. Published during the height of the “black-clad” insurrections, the reports alleged that the plaintiffs were “intelligence operatives or secret agents” working for the Communist Party of China and the People’s Liberation Army, claiming they had received secret funding and were involved in illegal abductions and cooperation with triads.
The plaintiffs said the publications caused serious reputational and financial damage. China Innovation Investment Ltd, a Hong Kong-listed holding company focusing on green energy and new materials investments, experienced a sharp decline in its share price, and its bank accounts were canceled.
In November 2019, Xiang and Kung were detained by Taiwanese authorities at Taoyuan International Airport, and faced investigations regarding national security and espionage allegations. Taiwanese prosecutors later dropped further appeals, and allowed the couple to return to Hong Kong in October 2023, following a nearly four-year travel ban.
In their defense, Apple Daily and AD Internet Ltd said the articles were merely “neutral” reports of allegations, and also claimed qualified privilege, saying these were a form of public-interest reportage. The court rejected both arguments.
Justice Tony Poon Siu-tung said that the defendants had produced no evidence to support either claim. The court also found that they had failed to verify the allegations and did not give the plaintiffs an opportunity to respond before publication.
“In my judgment, these meanings are defamatory against the plaintiffs. The matters published exposed the plaintiffs to contempt and ridicule by others and cause others to shun them,” Poon said.
China Innovation Investment Ltd was awarded HK$600,000 in general damages, while Xiang and Kung were awarded HK$400,000 and HK$300,000 in general damages respectively.
The court also awarded aggravated damages of HK$100,000 each to Xiang and Kung.
Apple Daily, a tabloid-style newspaper founded by Jimmy Lai Chee-ying under the parent media company Next Digital, shut down in 2021. Lai is serving a 20-year prison sentence, after being convicted of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under the Hong Kong SAR National Security Law, and one count of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious articles, for his actions spanning from the 2019 through 2021.
Neither Apple Daily nor AD Internet Ltd were present at the trial. Before the trial, a defendant, Law Wai-kwong, reached a settlement with the plaintiffs, while claims against the fourth to seventh defendants were discontinued.
