HONG KONG (AP) — 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.S. officials to take action.

Hong Kong democrat Jimmy Lai on Wednesday testified for the first time in his landmark national security trial, saying he had never tried to influence the foreign policy of other countries, such as the U.