A court hearing for jailed Hong Kong media Mogul Lai was postponed on Thursday due to bad weather, further lengthening a national security trial that began in 2023.

The city's weather observatory hoisted the highest-level rainstorm warning for around three hours on Thursday morning, leading the judiciary to cancel hearings for the day.

Recall that the 77-year-old founder of the Apple Daily newspaper is charged with foreign collusion under Hong Kong's national security law, which Beijing imposed following huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.

At the hearing, lawyers were expected to present closing arguments as Lai's trial enters its final stages, just as the judiciary said that those due to attend postponed hearings should return on Friday.

Meanwhile, the media tycoon has been kept behind bars since December 2020, reportedly in solitary confinement, with Western nations and rights groups calling for his release.

Aside from the collusion offence, which could land him in prison for life, Lai is also charged with seditious publication relating to 161 op-eds he allegedly wrote.

The tycoon gave spirited courtroom testimony over more than 50 days during the trial, fielding questions about his political ideology, management style and overseas contacts.

Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly rejected criticism related to Lai, saying last month that his case was handled strictly on the basis of evidence and in accordance with the law.