The Divide

A devout Catholic and media mogul, Jimmy Lai voluntarily gave up his freedom to stand trial in a case he could never win. Steve Vines, a veteran Hong Kong journalist who witnessed the downfall of Lai’s newspaper Apple Daily; Steve Butler, former Asia coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists who spoke to Lai about the deterioration of press freedom in the city; and Mark Simon, Lai’s friend and 'right-hand man,' share their thoughts with Iris Hsu on the ongoing trial and its irreversible impact on the former British colony.

At the age of 12, Jimmy Lai escaped Communism from mainland China, finding refuge in Hong Kong aboard a fishing boat. In 1981, he laid the foundations of his fortune with the retail chain Giordano and later established Apple Daily, the most popular Chinese-language newspaper, through his Next Media empire. A staunch critic of authoritarianism and the Chinese Communist Party, Lai and his publication boldly challenged Beijing's oppressive regime.

Now, 64 years after his escape, 76-year-old Lai finds himself imprisoned for amplifying the voices of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement. Despite holding UK citizenship, which could have allowed him to live a peaceful life abroad, he chose to stay in Hong Kong. Why did he make this choice? And would any of us possess the same courage to sacrifice personal freedom for a city's future and the slim chance of achieving democracy if we were in his shoes?

Mark Simon, Jimmy Lai's former deputy and trusted confidant, shares with Iris Hsu insights into Lai's character as a friend and boss, as well as the significance of Apple Daily's closure for Hong Kong's press freedom. 

Steve Vines, a British journalist, writer, and broadcaster who spent most of his career in Hong Kong, provides an account of the rise and fall of Apple Daily, along with a close-up observation of the city's current media landscape.

When a group of analysts and researchers at the National Endowment for Democracy were tasked with identifying threats to democratic development and security, they found an unexpected enemy that's been brazenly violating the democratic institutions: disinformation campaigns. 

In this episode, Christopher Walker, Vice President for Studies and Analysis at the National Endowment for Democracy, and I talk about the detrimental effects of inaccurate and purposefully misleading information that can be shared on a massive scale through automation.

If you want to learn more about how authoritarian regimes are deploying "sharp power" to undermine democracies from within by weaponizing universities, institutions, media, technology, and entertainment industries, pre-order "Defending Democracy in an Age of Sharp Power" here.