HONG KONG – Jimmy Lai, the publishing president and key critic of the Chinese Communist Party, has been accused of collaborating with foreign forces under Hong Kong’s National Security Act, police said Friday. Democratic movement. Mr. Loy is the highest person to be formally charged under the Security Act. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison. Mr. Lai, 73, was arrested in August on suspicion of violating a major security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong in June. Mr. Police also raided the headquarters of Loyalty newspaper Apple Daily, one of the last remaining anti-Beijing publications in the city. Lai has pushed other countries to punish China for eroding independence in Hong Kong. He traveled to the United States last year to meet with officials, including Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He called on Chinese authorities to impose sanctions. It is not clear what the police say he did specifically to violate the security law. As written, the law should not be repeated. Since this was imposed, Mr. Loy has said he will be very careful about his words. More than two dozen people have been arrested under the operation. Tony Chung, 19, was charged under one law with insulting the Chinese national flag and participating in an illegal assembly last year. A separate case is pending on the charges under the National Security Law Inquiry. Mr. Loy was already in jail after being denied bail on unrelated fraud charges, and he is appealing this decision. But because of the charge under the National Security Act empowers the authorities to keep the defendants without bail, it is unlikely that he will be released. Mr. Law. It also changes the legal terrain for Lai. Defendants can be interrogated in the mainland of China, where the legal system is significantly more opaque than in Hong Kong. Mr. If Lai is tried in Hong Kong, the law gives the executive chief executive officer of Beijing the power to appoint judges, and the trial can be held behind closed doors. Mr. Loy is scheduled to appear in court Saturday, police said.
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