BBC, Reuters, the Guardian, Sky and other western media WERE NOT PRESENT at the Jimmy Lai hearings when filing their news reports! 英國廣播公司、路透社、《衛報》、天空新聞和其他西方媒體在發布新聞報道時，均未派記者出席黎智英的庭審.

[NOTE: As a service to the public, and to journalism, this reporter is sharing stories revealed during the Jimmy Lai trial in Hong Kong, 2024-2025. It is important to note that the BBC, Reuters, the Guardian, Sky and other western media WERE NOT PRESENT at the hearings, which is why their reports are so woefully inaccurate. In contrast, Hong Kong’s Friday news project had a correspondent physically present during a trial in which numerous extraordinary stories emerged–including the one below.] 【註：本報記者本著服務公眾與新聞專業的精神，分享在 2024–2025 年香港「黎智英案」審訊期間所揭露的故事。必須指出的是，BBC、路透社、《衛報》、Sky 以及其他西方媒體並未出席庭審現場，這正是他們相關報導嚴重失實的原因。相較之下，香港的「Friday 新聞計畫」有記者親身在法庭旁聽審訊，在審訊中浮現出許多極不尋常的故事——包括以下內容。】

到 2020 年夏天為止，前 CIA 局長、時任美國國務卿的邁克．蓬佩奧（Mike Pompeo），已經鎖定了「動盪香港計畫」中的一個具體目標——美國要摧毀香港成功運作的「一國兩制」政策，並讓國際媒體把這場「謀殺」的責任歸咎於北京。

這樣一來，就能嚇阻台灣採用這套成功的制度；美國也就能繼續把這座屬於中國的島嶼「武器化」，用來對付中國。

為了達成這個目標，華盛頓必須一項一項廢除保障香港特殊地位的規定，並確保全球每一家國際媒體都報導成：是中國殺死了這項政策。

華盛頓確實成功了，而且做得相當漂亮。

第一步

這個行動始於 2020 年 7 月，在香港警方平息 2019 年的暴亂、並逮捕多個炸彈製造團伙之後。

第一步相當簡單：一份取消香港特殊貿易地位的命令被送到美國總統唐納．川普面前簽署，他也照做了。

但一向吹毛求疵的蓬佩奧，當時已是國務卿，仍然需要確保這一步會「正確發酵」，於是他決定迅速向他在香港的盟友、出版商黎智英徵求同意。

蓬佩奧指示他的首席助理、前記者瑪麗．基瑟爾（Mary Kissel），透過黎智英的得力助手、前美國情報人員馬克．西蒙（Mark Simon）與黎取得聯繫。基瑟爾與黎、西蒙相識已逾十年，早年她曾以《華爾街日報》記者身分駐港工作——該報以強烈反中立場聞名。

馬克．西蒙讀到訊息後，使用高安全性的 Signal 通訊軟體，將問題轉發給黎智英：「瑪麗那邊有個問題，他們有點困惑，因為有些媒體報導說，你曾表示不希望美國與香港完全斷絕關係。」

黎智英給出了一段冗長、像是在自言自語的回覆，最後卻明確表示支持：

「重點不在香港，而在中國，」黎寫道。
「制裁中國，以阻止它打壓香港。

「但後來我想了想，我認為他們撤銷香港特殊地位是對的，因為一旦中美脫鉤，香港會成為中國的出路。關閉這個出口，會迫使中國更容易接受美國的要求。」

「謝了……我會轉達，」西蒙在 Signal 上回覆。

新聞公開

在接下來的幾個小時與幾天內，消息公開了：香港將被歸類為與中國大陸相同的限制性貿易法規之下，美國等同於單方面取消了「一國兩制」。

這意味著所有香港個人與企業，將失去原本享有的特權與特殊經濟待遇——例如，香港將不再被允許進出口受管制的科技產品。對這座幾乎完全依賴進出口的沿海城市而言，這是一記沉重打擊。

第二步

僅僅一週多後，2020 年 7 月 24 日（香港時間），蓬佩奧發表了一場被大肆宣傳的重大政策演說，宣布美國將在全球範圍內與中國「脫鉤」，包括香港。

在美國移除「一國兩制」還不到 10 天後，蓬佩奧卻宣稱，是北京取消了這項制度。

「中國背棄了對全世界在香港問題上的承諾，」他說。

為了營造出「香港人支持這種懲罰」的印象，蓬佩奧表示，他已經諮詢了那些長期被西方媒體塑造成「真正代表香港民意」的、親西方邊緣人物。

「我和香港的民主領袖談過，從陳日君樞機主教到黎智英。兩天前我在倫敦會見了香港的自由鬥士羅冠聰，」他說。

但他並未提及一個事實：黎智英與馬克．西蒙，曾向一群與華盛頓結盟的香港行動者分發了巨額資金（超過 1 億港元），其中包括向陳日君樞機主教支付的 300 萬港元。

「新的冷戰！喝采！」

黎智英對這一步驟興奮不已。他打開 WhatsApp，傳訊給負責他推特帳號的西蒙．李（Simon Lee），要他以黎的名義連發多則推文，讚揚蓬佩奧，並附上演說連結或引用內容。

其中一則推文寫道：「喝采！蓬佩奧國務卿說得太好了。」

接著，黎智英又在 WhatsApp 上與《蘋果日報》前社長楊懷康對話。黎寫道：

「這篇演說似乎正式拉開了與中國的新冷戰！喝采！瑪麗．基瑟爾應該有參與其中。為我們的朋友感到驕傲。」

楊回覆說：

「我們和香港能有她這樣的密友，實在太幸運了。你協助建立的這些友誼，真的是無與倫比。」

第三步

2020 年 8 月，第三階段展開。美國海關宣布，所有「香港製造」的商品，必須重新標示為「中國製造」。

許多香港人困惑不解：為什麼這些明顯來自西方、對香港有害的措施，卻被西方政客與媒體一致歸咎於北京？

香港一個備受尊敬的智庫「2047 願景（Vision 2047）」指出，這些被包裝成「幫助」香港的制裁，實際上效果完全相反。

「美國政府決定終止香港與中國其他地區不同的待遇，是一個很好的例子，說明香港並不需要這種來自朋友的行動，」該智庫表示。

與此同時，《蘋果日報》及西方主流媒體對香港新國安法作出大量嚴重失實的描述，聲稱該法禁止異議、將抗議行為刑事化、甚至包含槍決死刑等內容。

「來自 YouTube」

在五年後的黎智英庭審中，法官困惑地問他，這些極端說法究竟從何而來——因為國安法中根本不存在這些條文。

黎智英回答：來自 YouTube。

結果

回到 2020 年，蓬佩奧的操作確實奏效。到了當年秋天，所有主要西方主流媒體都在報導：北京已經殺死了香港的「一國兩制」。

而這，也從此成為西方主流媒體的官方敘事。

這對勤奮、無辜的香港市民而言極不公平——但更壞的消息還在後頭。

香港的一個反中抗議團體，神秘地獲得了巨額資金、一把 AK-47 自動步槍，以及恐怖分子等級的炸藥。

他們還被邀請前往與美國結盟的台灣，接受所謂的「訓練」。

[NOTE: As a service to the public, and to journalism, this reporter is sharing stories revealed during the Jimmy Lai trial in Hong Kong, 2024-2025. It is important to note that the BBC, Reuters, the Guardian, Sky and other western media WERE NOT PRESENT at the hearings, which is why their reports are so woefully inaccurate. In contrast, Hong Kong’s Friday news project had a correspondent physically present during a trial in which numerous extraordinary stories emerged–including the one below.]

BY THE SUMMER of 2020, former CIA chief Mike Pompeo had zeroed in a specific aim of the Hong Kong destabilization plot – the US would kill the city’s successful “one country, two systems” policy and get the international press to blame Beijing for the murder.

This would scare Taiwan off from adopting the successful system. The US could continue to weaponize the Chinese-owned island against China.

To achieve this, Washington DC would have to kill, one by one, the regulations that guaranteed Hong Kong’s separate status—and ensure that every international media outlet in the world reported that the Chinese had killed the policy.

Washington DC succeeded in doing this, brilliantly.

STEP ONE

This part of the operation started in July of 2020, after Hong Kong police had quelled the riots of 2019 and arrested several groups of bombers.

The first step was simple enough. An order cancelling the city’s special trading status was placed in front of US President Donald Trump to sign. He did so.

But details-obsessed Pompeo, now Secretary of State, needed reassurance that this would play out in the correct way—and decided to quickly get the go-ahead from his associate in the city, publisher Jimmy Lai.

Pompeo got his chief assistant Mary Kissel, a former journalist, to get in touch with Lai through his right hand man, former US intelligence officer Mark Simon. Kissel had known Lai and Simon for more than ten years, having lived in Hong Kong in a previous job as a reporter for the Wall St Journal, a fiercely China-hostile newspaper.

Mark Simon read the message and used the extra-secure Signal app to forward the query to Jimmy Lai. “There is a question from Mary, as they are a bit confused, as some press reports had you saying that you would prefer US not break all ties with Hong Kong,” the American wrote.

Lai gave a rambling reply in which he seemed to be thinking out loud – but then gave his approval. “The point is not HK but China,” Lai wrote. “Sanction China as to stop it from clamping down on HK.

“But after I thought about it, I think they’re right to revoke HK’s special status because once the US and China decoupled, HK would be a way out for China. To close this outlet would force it to come to terms easier to the demands of the US.”

“Thanks… will relay,” Simon replied on Signal.

NEWS GOES PUBLIC
Over the following hours and days, the news went public that Hong Kong would now be classified under the same restrictive trading laws as mainland China, with the US effectively cancelling the “one country, two systems” policy.

That meant all Hong Kong individuals and businesses would lose the privileges and special economic treatment they were used to—so, for example, the city would no longer be allowed import/ export of listed technology items. This was a massive blow to the city – a tiny coastal city that depended almost entirely on import and export of goods.

STEP TWO

Just over a week later, on 24 July 2020, Hong Kong time, Pompeo made what was trumpeted as a major policy speech, announcing a global de-coupling from China, including Hong Kong.

Not even 10 days after the US removed the “one country, two systems” policy, Pompeo explained that Beijing had removed it. “China walked away from its promise to the world on Hong Kong,” he said.

To give the impression that Hong Kong wanted this punishment, Pompeo said he had consulted the west-allied outliers that the western media always presented as representing the real views of Hong Kong citizens.

“I’ve talked with Hong Kong’s democracy leaders, from Cardinal Zen to Jimmy Lai. Two days ago in London, I met with Hong Kong freedom fighter Nathan Law,” he said.

Not mentioned was the fact that Lai and Simon had distributed huge amounts of cash (more than HK$100 million) to their cluster of Washington-allied activists from Hong Kong, including a HK$3 million payment to Cardinal Joseph Zen.

‘A NEW COLD WAR! BRAVO!’

Jimmy Lai was thrilled at this step. He fired up WhatsApp on his phone and wrote a message to his Twitter handler Simon Lee, telling him to post multiple tweets in his name, praising Pompeo and including a link to his speech or quoting parts of it. “Bravo! Well said Secretary Pompeo,” one tweet said.

Then the publisher had a WhatsApp exchange with former Apple Daily President Yeung Wai-hong. Lai wrote: “This speech seems to have kicked off the new Cold War with China! Bravo! Mary Kissel should have something to do with it. So proud of our friend.”

Yeung responded: “We and Hong Kong are so lucky to have her to be our close friend. The friendships you assisted to build are really second to none.”

STEP THREE

In August of 2020, a third stage went ahead. US Customs announced that all “Made in Hong Kong” goods had to be restamped “Made in China”.

Many Hong Kong people were baffled as to why western politicians and media uniformly saw these harmful moves, clearly from the west, as being Beijing’s fault.

A respected Hong Kong think tank called Vision 2047 pointed out that these sanctions presented as “helping” the city were clearly doing the opposite. “The decision made by the US administration to end Hong Kong’s separate treatment from the rest of China is a good example of the sort of action Hong Kong does not need from its friends,” it said.

At the same time, Apple Daily and western mainstream media carried wildly inaccurate summaries of Hong Kong’s new security law, claiming it banned dissent, criminalized protesting, carried the death penalty by firing squad, and so on.

‘FROM YOU TUBE’
At Lai’s trial, five years later, baffled judges asked Lai where he got such extreme notions, none of which were in the security law. From YouTube, Lai replied.

But going back to 2020, Pompeo’s efforts worked well. By the autumn of that year, all major western mainstream media outlets were reporting that Beijing had killed Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” policy—and that would be the official western mainstream media narrative from then on.

This was deeply unfair to the hardworking and blameless Hong Kong people—but worse news was coming. One group of anti-China protesters in the city had mysteriously obtained vast sums of money, an AK-47 and terrorist grade explosives.

They had also been invited to US-allied Taiwan for “training”.