Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai asks staff to 'fight on', says 'can't let people down'

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who was recently released on bail, has asked his reporters to “Keep Fighting.” Lai, a media mogul and pro-democracy supporter was arrested on August 10, for flouting the national security law but was released after a few hours on bail.

'Difficult to run media business' 

Lai, who owns media company Next Digital and popular newspaper Apple Daily, spoke to the reporters in a Facebook Live session. In his inspiring address, he asked his staff to staff to continue filing the kind of ‘unvarnished dispatches’ that have infuriated China and pro-Beijing politicians in Hong Kong. He also quipped that it was becoming increasingly difficult to run a media business in Hong Kong. Talking about his arrest, he added that “luckily” he wasn’t sent back to the mainland.

"Fight on! Let's fight on. We have the support of the Hong Kong people. We can't let them down," he said.

Read: US NSA Denounces Media Tycoon's Arrest, Urges China To Repeal National Security Law

Read: US NSA Denounces Media Tycoon's Arrest, Urges China To Repeal National Security Law

On August 10,  Hong Kong police stormed the offices of Lai’s Apple Daily newspaper and arrested the media mogul over suspected collusion with foreign forces. Lai is the founder of Giordano, an Asian clothing retailer; Next Digital, a Hong Kong-listed media company; and popular pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. 

The 71-year-old entrepreneur has been a vocal critic of the authoritarian Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime and has been one of the main contributors to the pro-democracy camp. Lai has often termed the CCP rule as “murderous regime” and recently echoed prominent activist Joshua Wong call to Hong Kong officials and their family members to sell off their overseas properties and renounce foreign nationalities to show absolute loyalty to Xi Jinping.

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Read: Hong Kong's Media Tycoon Jimmy Lai Released On Bail