Jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai insisted his newspaper had championed democracy and "freedom" as he took the witness stand Wednesday for the first time in his trail for collusion with foreign forces.

Former Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai testified he met with then-Vice President Mike Pence and then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during Hong Kong’s anti-government protests in 2019 but told the court at his landmark national security trial Wednesday that he did not ask the U.