Jimmy Lai vs. China – The New York Times

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Jimmy Lai was born in mainland China but made his fortune in Hong Kong, starting as a sweatshop and becoming a clothing tycoon. After the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, he drew attention to the media with publications critical of the Chinese Communist Party.

“I believe in the media,” he told Austin Ramsay, a Hong Kong reporter for the New York Times. “By providing information, you are actually providing freedom.”

In August, he was arrested under Hong Kong’s new national security law passed by Beijing.

Today, we speak with Mr. Lai about his life, his arrest, and his campaign for democracy in the face of China’s growing power.

Reference reading:

• In August, Mr. Lai, his two sons and four Apple Daily executives were arrested in accordance with the new law on national security. The publication was target and test case for the government’s power over the media.

Get connected and tell us what you think. Email us at thedaily@nytimes.com… Follow Michael Barbaro on Twitter: @mikiebarb… And if you are interested in advertising in “The Daily”, write to us at thedaily-ads@nytimes.com…

Austin Ramsay and Tiffany May provided the coverage.

The Daily, by Theo Balcomb, Andy Mills, Lisa Tobin, Rachel Kester, Lincy Garrison, Annie Brown, Claire Teniscutter, Paige Cowatt, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Larisa Anderson, Wendy Dorr, Chris Wood, Jessica Chung , Alexandra Lee Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Mark Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, Kelly Prime, Julia Longoria, Sindhu Gnanasambandan, MJ Davis Lin, Austin Mitchell, Nina Pathak, Dan Powell, Dave Shaw, Sidney Harper, Daniel Guillemette, Buetow, Robert Jimison, Mike Benoit, Bianca Gever, Liz O. Bailen, Astaa Chaturvedi and Rachelle Bonha. Our theme song is Jim Brunberg and Ben Landswerk from Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnik, Mikayla Bouchard, Lauren Jackson, Julia Simon, Mahima Chablani, Nora Keller, Sofia Milan and Desira Ibekva.