Hello and a very warm welcome to the program. I'm Sally Bundock. We begin in Hong Kong today, where the high-profile trial of the former media tycoon and pro-democracy campaigner, Jimmy Lai, has in the last few hours got underway. The 76-year-old was originally arrested in 2020, accused of undermining the territory's national security through articles published in his Apple Daily newspaper on social media as well. Mr. Lai has been held in solitary confinement for the past three years since his writing was deemed to be illegal under new legislation imposed by Beijing. Security was tight around the court for the start of his trial. Mr. Lai, who is also a British citizen, has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The United States and Britons condemned the trial and have urged the authorities in Hong Kong to release the businessman. Well, we'll be live outside the court in Hong Kong shortly. First, this report from our diplomatic correspondent, James Landale.

Jimmy Lai used to be a powerful media boss in Hong Kong, and he used his Apple daily newspaper to criticize China's Communist Party. He also took part in and supported pro-democracy demonstrations in the former British colony, which led the authorities to impose tough national security laws. Three years ago, they arrested Mr. Lai and jailed him for fraud, which he denied. And now they're trying him for sedition and collusion with foreign governments, which he also denies. Mr. Lai, who's 76, was born in mainland China, but he's also a British national. Last week, Lord Cameron met his son, Sebastian, at the Foreign Office. In a statement, the Foreign Secretary said he was particularly concerned at the politically motivated prosecution of Mr. Lai, who'd been targeted, he said, for exercising his freedom of expression. He added, I call on the Hong Kong authorities to end their prosecution and release Jimmy Lai. Mr. Lai's supporters do not expect a fair trial. If convicted, he could face life in prison. The proceedings, which may last months, will be seen as a fresh challenge to media freedom in Hong Kong and will shape its reputation for global investors. China has urged the UK to stop meddling in its affairs.

James Landel, BBC News.

Well, let's go live to outside the court now in Hong Kong, where our reporter, Martin Yip, is following this case. Martin, what's happened so far?

Well, there's a little bit of activities going on right behind me, Sally, as you can see, because it's approaching lunch hour and the court has paused for lunch break. But this morning, there's quite a lot of people queuing up, dozens of them, so early in the morning in the cold, waiting to go inside and attend this trial to see what's going on with Jimmy Lai. And as the court begins this session, Jimmy Lai was seen in the dock surrounded by at least three prison guards, literally surrounding him with no one else sitting anywhere near him. There are only three judges for this trial. It's a panel of three judges. Three judges is a High Court trial, which normally would have seen a jury, but that's not the case this time in Hong Kong, because under the national security law imposed by Beijing in June 2020, the government has the power to request the courts not to hold the trial with the jury, and so it happens. The three judges are sitting behind some squeeze, which we are not sure if it's just a COVID era thing that prevents any threat of disease or is anything like a bulletproof screen.

We don't know, but they are sitting behind this protection to hear the arguments from both sides.

And how does he seem? What are people saying about how he looks? Because, of course, he's been in solitary confinement now for three years.

Yeah, we can't quite see clearly how he looks like we guess the court those seats are fillable for journalist and the public gallery has been filled up pretty soon. But he doesn't show much emotion, but he has reportedly waving to people in the public gallery saying hi, but it's no more than that. It's been three years. There are reports of concerns of his health status, but not much do we know what state of his mind is in or if he's suffering for any very significant ailment that we don't know.

Just very briefly, Martin, how long is this expected to last, this court case, the hearing?

Well, the court has said they would take 80 days. That would mean 80 working days to hear this trial. So that might go all the way into March 2024. But that's only an estimation at this moment, 80 days for now.