Governments, institutions and rights groups across the world have condemned the conviction of the former pro-democracy media tycoon and British citizen Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong on national security charges.
The 78-year-old was found guilty in West Kowloon district court on Monday of one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publications and two counts of conspiracy to foreign collusion. The charges were brought under the city’s punitive national security law , introduced in 2020, and a British colonial-era sedition law that has been used in recent years by authorities.
Lai faces spending the rest of his life in prison, amid increasing fears about his physical condition. A diabetes sufferer, he is thought to have lost about 10kg in the past year.
Yvette Cooper, the British foreign secretary, said: “The UK condemns the politically motivated prosecution of Jimmy Lai that has resulted in today’s guilty verdict. Jimmy Lai has been targeted by the Chinese and Hong Kong governments for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression … We continue to call for Mr Lai’s immediate release.”
She later told parliament the Chinese ambassador to the UK had been summoned over Lai’s conviction.
The Australian government said it was “deeply concerned by the guilty verdict” while the EU said the outcome was “emblematic of the erosion of democracy and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong”. Taiwan’s mainland affair’s council said the conviction had caused “profound sorrow” in Taiwan.
Lai is the founder of Apple Daily, a hugely popular pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong that was forced to close in 2021. He was arrested in 2020 and has spent more than five years behind bars during a lengthy trial that has been delayed several times.
Lai was accused of using Apple Daily and political connections, particularly in the US, to lobby for foreign governments to impose sanctions on China and Hong Kong after the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2019 and 2020. Lai pleaded not guilty to all charges.
There has been particular criticism over the fact that the prosecution case used messages and meetings from before the national security law was in effect as part of its evidence. The law cannot be applied retroactively and Lai said he never called for sanctions after it had taken effect, as “it would be suicidal to do so”.
But in their 855-page judgment, the judges, who are picked by the government for national security cases, said the evidence was “clear”.
Sarah Brooks, the China director for Amnesty International, said: “The conviction of Jimmy Lai feels like the death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong. This verdict shows that Hong Kong’s so-called national security laws are not in place to protect people, but to silence them. It should also serve as a warning to all people doing business in Hong Kong: that pursuing opportunities in the city comes with severe legal risks.”
Speaking to reporters in London on Monday, Lai’s son Sebastien Lai said while the guilty verdict was not a surprise, it was “still painful”. “It signifies a Hong Kong that has completely changed,” he said.
Sebastien Lai and his father’s international legal team called on the UK government to make his release a precondition for closer relations between London and Beijing. Keir Starmer has called for Lai’s release and has raised the case directly with China’s president, Xi Jinping. The UK prime minister is expected to visit Beijing in January.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, the head of the international legal team, said there was “no use shouting into the wind” and statements in support of Lai needed to be backed up by concrete action. “China needs to see there are real consequences” for Lai’s prosecution, Gallagher said.
Thibaut Bruttin, the director of Reporters Without Borders, said: “We are outraged that Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong’s symbol of press freedom, has been found guilty on trumped-up national security charges. This unlawful conviction only demonstrates the alarming deterioration of media freedom in the territory.”
Cooper also called for Lai, who has been kept in solitary confinement for more than 1,800 days, to be given full access to independent medical professionals. Earlier this month, his family said Lai had lost a significant amount of weight, his nails were becoming discoloured and falling off, and his teeth were rotting. The closing arguments in Lai’s trial were delayed at one point because he was suffering from heart palpitations.
Lai’s daughter Claire Lai said: “Having spent the last few years in Hong Kong, I have personally witnessed my father’s rapidly failing health. He is 78 and has spent five years in terrible conditions, we are worried about how much more he can bear.”
Sebastien Lai said on Monday that his father, who has a British passport, “could have left at any point” but that he stayed to give “everything that he has for the freedom of others”.
He said that if Lai was allowed to die in jail Hong Kong would die “with my father”. The government would have “arbitrarily and vindictively killed a man for his journalism, for his criticism”, he said, describing his father as “a man who lives with no regrets”.
Earlier in December, the Hong Kong government said Lai’s medical provision in prison was “adequate and comprehensive”.
China’s foreign ministry said: “We urge the relevant countries to … not make irresponsible remarks on the trial of judicial cases in Hong Kong and not to interfere in Hong Kong’s judiciary or China’s internal affairs in any form.”
The Chinese embassy in London criticised the UK government’s statement. The embassy said Cooper’s comment “blatantly interferes in China’s internal affairs and tramples on the rule of law, and seriously violates the basic norms governing international relations”.
