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Lai, an ardent critic of Beijing, would be the highest profile
person charged under the sweeping new law imposed on the
Chinese-ruled city in June.
He was due to appear in court on Saturday, according to Apple
Daily, a popular tabloid known for its feisty and critical
coverage of China and Hong Kong.
The security law, which punishes what Beijing broadly defines as
secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign
forces with up to life in jail, has been condemned by the West
and human rights groups as a tool to crush dissent in the
semi-autonomous, Chinese-ruled city.
Authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing say it is vital to plug
gaping holes in national security defences exposed by months of
sometimes violent anti-government and anti-China protests that
rocked the global financial hub over the last year.
"The goal is to hold Jimmy Lai, and shut Jimmy Lai up," Mark
Simon, an associate of Lai, told Reuters.
Hong Kong police did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
The publishing tycoon is one of the financial hub's most
prominent democracy activists, while his Next Media group is
considered one of the key remaining bastions of media freedoms
in Hong Kong.
Tensions between China and the United States have escalated in
recent weeks as Washington accuses Beijing of using the security
law to trample wide-ranging freedoms guaranteed when the former
British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Authorities have intensified a crackdown on opposition forces in
the city, dismissing lawmakers from the legislature, conducting
widespread arrests and jailing high-profile democracy activists
such as Joshua Wong.
Lai was denied bail earlier this month following his arrest on a
separate charge of fraud related to the lease of a building that
houses his Apple Daily, an anti-government tabloid.
He was arrested in August when about 200 police officers swooped
on his offices. Hong Kong police later said they had arrested
nine men and one woman for suspected offences including
"collusion with a foreign country/external elements to endanger
national security, conspiracy to defraud" and others.
The tycoon had been a frequent visitor to Washington, where he
has met officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to
rally support for Hong Kong democracy, prompting Beijing to
label him a "traitor".
(Reporting by Twinnie Siu and Greg Torode in HONG KONG; Writing
by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Sam Holmes, Lincoln Feast and
Michael Perry)
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