No world peace without changing China: Released media tycoon Lai

“If we don’t change [China], the world will not have peace,” he warned.

The appeal of the Hong Kong media mogul was made a day after he walked free on bail, and spoke of the ordeal in a live-streamed session organised by the Heritage Foundation, an American think tank based in Washington, on Thursday morning.

Lai also warned the people of Hong Kong against radicalism and urged them to steel themselves for a long fight to resist the encroachment on the city’s autonomy. “We’re like an egg and there is a high wall. We have to be very flexible, innovative and patient,” he said. Lai, his two sons and four senior employees of the newspaper, known for its scathing criticisms of Beijing, was arrested on Monday when more than 200 officers raided the Apple Daily offices, sparking an international backlash as it was seen as another blow to the city’s press freedom.

The Communist Party’s mouthpiece, People’s Daily, ran an online commentary on Thursday, saying that just because Lai was released on bail “did not mean that he can escape from precise punishment under the city’s law”.

In the 40-minute live chat with the US think tank, the 72-year-old media boss was often seen choking back tears as the American audience expressed their support for him. “There’s never a moment in my life I felt so touched. I feel what I’ve done is correct, no matter how big the challenges have been,” he said. Lai said he did not expect the arrests to come so early, considering the “strong responses from the international community” after Beijing imposed the sweeping national security law on June 30.