Pro-democracy Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison following the end of his long-awaited trial in December, when he was convicted of violating Chinese national security laws.
Lai’s sentence is the harshest ever handed down for a violation of this specific Chinese security law, which has been used in the country to quell any criticism of the Chinese Communist Party. Lai, 78, is a prominent pro-democracy activist and founder of the newspaper Apple Daily, which championed the cause of freedom for Hong Kong.
In December, Lai was convicted of conspiracy to collude with a foreign country to endanger national security and conspiracy to publish seditious publications. Lai had previously pleaded not guilty. The maximum punishment for this conviction is life in prison.
Lai’s co-defendants, six of whom were former employees of Apple Daily, received sentences of up to ten years in prison. The other two co-defendants were activists.
Lai was previously arrested in August 2020 after Chinese authorities raided Apple Daily. He then spent five years in Chinese custody in solitary confinement.
Three Chinese judges determined that Lai’s work, as well as his meetings with U.S. government officials, were in violation of national security law. Lai did not have a jury present at his trial.
The trial lasted 156 days, during which Lai represented himself. It was delayed multiple times because of Lai’s health.
The verdict alleges that Lai consistently and unwaveringly worked to take down the Chinese Communist Party via his work at his pro-democracy news publications.
President Donald Trump is set to visit China in April and has urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to consider Lai’s release. Trump said he feels “very badly” about the verdict.
U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the trial was “politically motivated,” with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling for Lai’s release. Lai is a British citizen.
Lai grew up very poor but worked his way up from factory worker to billionaire, in part by starting his own retail chain. At the time of Lai’s arrest, he was worth $1.2 billion. After beginning much of his pro-democracy activism through his newspapers, Next Magazine and Apple Daily, he converted to Catholicism in 1997.
Chairman John Moolenaar of the Select Committee on China said he will “lead efforts to sanction those responsible for the repression of Lai and his colleagues.”
“The sentencing of Jimmy Lai is the latest stain on the human rights record of the Chinese Communist Party and the farce of its promise to uphold one country, two systems,” Moolenaar said. “Lai and his Apple Daily colleagues are being punished for exposing the truth about the CCP's attacks on the rights of Hong Kongers.”
Lai’s daughter, Claire Lai, said her father’s sentence is “heartbreakingly cruel.”
“If this sentence is carried out, he will die a martyr behind bars,” Claire said.
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