In the clip embedded below, Ileana Chan of Empire Watch interviews KJ Noh about the recent conviction of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, which Western outlets have framed as an attack on press freedom. KJ notes that Jimmy Lai was found guilty on two counts of collusion with foreign forces and one count of sedition under Hong Kong’s national security laws following a 156-day trial.
Discussing the political context of the trial, KJ explains that the 2019 Hong Kong riots evolved into an attempted “colour revolution”, backed by the US, and observes that Lai used his media influence and resources to coordinate and publicise this movement. KJ also observes that Lai actively lobbied US officials to apply sanctions against China.
As such, KJ argues that Lai received a fair trial within Hong Kong’s legal system and that his conviction was justified given his involvement in sedition.
The interview expands into a discussion of Hong Kong’s colonial past, with KJ pointing out that Hong Kong under British control was not the model of liberal democracy it is sometimes painted as, but rather an apartheid colony.
It may seem counterintuitive to civil rights and freedoms, yet part one of a two part strategy would see the state (you name the country) seizing the corporate media conglomerate, literally to take them over, overnight. This will help put an end to the terminally dangerous propaganda neocon machinery. Once they have been cleaned and repopulated to reflect the public interest and public good they should be nationalized as a public trust.
Whatever obstacles stand in the way must be overcome because in this day, in this time it is the most destructive force against human societies living side-by-side in peace and understanding.