For decades, media magnate Jimmy Lai utilized his fortune and his Hong Kong newsroom to outspokenly critique Beijing’s authoritarianism and champion democratic aspirations within China. Now, with his 20-year prison sentence delivered by a Hong Kong court, the city has unequivocally demonstrated that such defiance comes at a steep cost, mirroring the suppression seen across the border.
This pivotal ruling culminates Beijing’s years-long campaign to dismantle the influence of a self-proclaimed ‘troublemaker,’ whom they accused of orchestrating Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests almost seven years ago. Critics argue that Beijing predetermined Mr. Lai’s guilt long before he could receive a fair trial.
The repercussions of this decision extend far beyond Mr. Lai’s individual fate. Six of his former employees from the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper also received prison sentences of up to 10 years. This sets a stark new precedent for what was once Asia’s vibrant media hub. While the government frames these cases as matters of national security, the severity of the penalties highlights the rapidly shrinking landscape for independent journalism.
By imposing penalties typically reserved for mainland dissidents on a local media tycoon and his editorial team, Beijing has dramatically accelerated the erosion of a political arrangement designed to safeguard Hong Kong’s Western-style liberties, according to critics.
Elaine Pearson, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, stated, ‘The sentences handed down to Lai and his colleagues are very harsh, even by mainland standards.’ She further noted that only one Chinese dissident, Ilham Tohti, an economics professor advocating for the Uyghur minority, received a longer sentence than Mr. Lai – a life term in 2014.
Xi Jinping, China’s most powerful leader in recent history, has spearheaded a sweeping crackdown on any form of dissent throughout the country. His targets have included not only human rights activists but also prominent business tycoons, intellectuals, and even members of the party elite, some of whom have faced nearly two-decade prison terms.
Despite Hong Kong possessing a distinct legal system from mainland China, Mr. Lai’s prosecution starkly illustrates how these distinctions blur when it comes to the city’s national security laws, Ms. Pearson added.
‘These national security trials ultimately serve a political agenda: to extinguish dissent and deliver a clear message to anyone who dares to challenge the Chinese Communist Party,’ she emphasized.
For Mr. Lai, who is 78 and in declining health, the sentence is effectively a life term, his family revealed. His daughter, Claire Lai, expressed, ‘This is a heartbreakingly cruel sentence. If this sentence is carried out, he will die a martyr behind bars.’
In court, Mr. Lai appeared unsurprised, even as some supporters in the public gallery wept. Dressed in a white shirt and jacket, he smiled and waved at his wife, making a heart gesture to his supporters. He seemed to embody a man who had already accepted a predetermined outcome.
The judges cited Jimmy Lai’s role as ‘no doubt the mastermind’ behind the conspiracies he was convicted of, justifying the severe punishment. They also noted a reduction of 25 months from his sentence due to his health conditions, including diabetes and hypertension.
The hearing unfolded under stringent security measures. Scores of police officers, many in tactical gear, were deployed outside the courthouse in a working-class district of Hong Kong’s Kowloon peninsula. An armored vehicle patrolled the perimeter.
Individuals hoping to enter the courthouse had camped overnight on mats, wrapped in blankets. Police cordoned off the area with security tape, preventing reporters from conducting interviews with those in line.
Mr. Lai was convicted in December of ‘conspiracy to collude with foreign forces,’ a charge stemming from his meetings with US politicians. He was also found guilty of conspiring to publish seditious material in Apple Daily, the Chinese-language, pro-democracy newspaper he founded in 1995, which has since been shut down.
China has labeled Mr. Lai a traitor, accusing him of attempting to undermine the Communist Party’s authority over Hong Kong and China. They have pointed to him as the ‘black hand’ behind the 2019 anti-government protests that rocked Hong Kong.
Even in a fiercely capitalist city teeming with self-made millionaires, Mr. Lai’s inspiring rags-to-riches story was exceptional. He arrived in China as a young stowaway from a poverty-stricken background, climbing the ranks of the city’s garment factories. This journey culminated in the launch of his own casual wear brand in 1981, securing his initial fortune.
Mr. Lai experienced a political awakening following the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989. He publicly angered Beijing by famously calling Li Peng, the Chinese official who ordered the crackdown, the ‘son of a turtle’s egg’ – a grave insult in Chinese culture.
Legal experts and human rights organizations assert that Mr. Lai had no prospect of a fair trial. National security cases in Hong Kong are presided over by judges handpicked by the city’s leader, rather than by a jury. Furthermore, Communist Party-owned media outlets in Hong Kong had already declared Mr. Lai guilty well before his trial even commenced.
Western governments have consistently called for the release of Mr. Lai, a British citizen, denouncing his trial as politically motivated. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reportedly raised Mr. Lai’s case during a meeting with China’s paramount leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing last month. Last week, at a British parliamentary hearing, Mr. Lai’s son, Sebastien Lai, criticized the Starmer government for not making his father’s release a precondition of the visit to China.
On Monday, Britain’s foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, urged Hong Kong to release Jimmy Lai on humanitarian grounds, citing his worsening health. Ms. Cooper confirmed that his case was being discussed at the ‘highest levels’ between the British and Chinese governments following Mr. Starmer’s visit, and that the two nations would ‘rapidly engage further’ now that Mr. Lai’s sentence has been delivered.
President Trump has also stated that he requested Mr. Xi to consider Mr. Lai’s release. David Perdue, the US ambassador to China, referred to Mr. Lai’s case as an ‘ongoing conversation’ between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi during a Bloomberg TV interview last month.
Beijing has firmly rejected calls for Mr. Lai’s release, labeling them as ‘blatant interference’ in China’s internal affairs.
Hong Kong’s national security apparatus criticized Western nations for advocating Mr. Lai’s release ‘under the guise of ‘human rights’.’ Concurrently, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, John Lee, issued a statement declaring the sentence ‘deeply gratifying,’ and denouncing Lai’s alleged crimes as ‘heinous and utterly despicable.’
Mr. Lai’s only remaining hope for freedom lies in potential exile to another country, possibly on medical grounds, suggested Mark Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation and author of ‘The Troublemaker.’ Clifford argued that ‘China needs to understand that Lai is more trouble in prison than outside it,’ adding that Mr. Lai’s continued imprisonment complicates any potential rapprochement between the United States and China. ‘Sending him into exile would be in everyone’s interest.’
Berry Wang contributed reporting from Hong Kong and Lily Kuo from Taipei.