Jimmy Lai vs. China

<p><em>This episode contains strong language.</em></p><p>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.</p><p>“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.”</p><p>In August, he was arrested under Hong Kong’s new Beijing-sponsored national security law.</p><p>Today, we talk to Mr. Lai about his life, his arrest and campaigning for democracy in the face of China’s growing power.</p><p>Guests: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/austin-ramzy" target="_blank">Austin Ramzy</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/tiffany-may" target="_blank">Tiffany May</a>, who cover Hong Kong for The Times, spoke with Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy media tycoon and founder of Apple Daily.</p><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" target="_blank">nytimes.com/thedaily </a></p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>In August, Mr. Lai, his two sons and four executives from Apple Daily<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/09/world/asia/hong-kong-arrests-lai-national-security-law.html?smid=pc-thedaily" target="_blank"> were arrested</a> under the new national security law. The publication was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/world/asia/hong-kong-apple-daily-jimmy-lai.html?smid=pc-thedaily" target="_blank">a target and a test case</a> for the government’s authority over the media.</li></ul>