Conviction of Jimmy Lai Could Be China's Final Blow to Hong Kong Democracy

The Hong Kong court handed prominent democracy activist Jimmy Lai (78) a harsh 20-year sentence on February 9. It had convicted Lai of violating the Hong Kong National Security Law and other alleged crimes on December 15.

For Lai, who is elderly and in poor health, this is a devastating sentence. Given his age, it is the same as life imprisonment, the maximum sentence under the National Security Law.

The politically motivated ruling aligns with the wishes of the Chinese government in Beijing. Nevertheless, it is totally unacceptable, and Lai must be released immediately.

*Jimmy Lai in 2020. (©Sankei by Kinya Fujimoto)*

Beijing's Determination to Crush Democracy

The Beijing regime under Xi Jinping set out with steely determination to crush the Hong Kong democracy movement. To that end, it introduced the National Security Law in June 2020, transforming Hong Kong in major ways.

The liberal newspaper published by Lai, the Apple Daily, was a top target of the crackdown. It was forced to cease publication in June 2021, after its editorial executives were arrested en masse on accusations of violating the National Security Law. That left Hong Kong effectively robbed of its freedom of speech and the press.

Moreover, due to malicious changes to the electoral laws, pro-China members now monopolize control of Hong Kong's Legislative Assembly. Also under pressure from China, Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy party, the Democratic Party, was forced to disband in December 2025. With the party's demise, the Hong Kong democracy movement came to an end in both name and reality.

Jimmy Lai stood at the forefront of the democracy movement, both shaping opinion and providing financial support. The Xi Jinping regime is likely quite pleased with the draconian 20-year prison sentence handed down by the Hong Kong judiciary. Beijing undoubtedly views the sentence as the final blow in its campaign to quell dissent in the former British colony.

*A protest held in Hong Kong on June 16, 2019. (©Sankei by Kinya Fujimoto)*

However, the ruling's impacts should not be underestimated.

Foreign Companies at Risk

Lai made the following observation about his upcoming trial in an interview with The Sankei Shimbun before he was imprisoned.

"It will give us a good idea of the current state of Hong Kong's judicial system. And it will serve as an indicator as to whether foreign companies will flee Hong Kong or not."

As he said, that is exactly what has happened. The court's ruling clearly exposes Hong Kong's current situation. Not only have the executive and legislative branches become Sinicized, so too has the judiciary.

*Elementary school students learn "patriotic education" about the founding of the People’s Republic of China at the National Security Exhibition Gallery in Hong Kong. (©Sankei by Kinya Fujimoto)*

Hasn't the time come for foreign companies with a presence in Hong Kong to reconsider their investments there?

Loss of Basic Human Rights

Above all, arrests and show trials based on the National Security Law violate basic human rights, including freedom of speech and assembly. Nothing about them can be condoned. It is only natural that the international community should severely criticize the sentence handed down to Mr Lai.

One leader who criticized the verdict was United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He said: "The Hong Kong High Court’s decision to sentence Jimmy Lai to 20 years is an unjust and tragic conclusion to this case. It shows the world that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, casting aside the international commitments Beijing made in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration."

Rubio also strongly urged Beijing to release Lai on humanitarian grounds.

After Chinese democracy movement activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo was diagnosed with cancer while in prison, the United States and other countries expressed their willingness to accept him for treatment. However, the Chinese government rejected their pleas. Tragically, in 2017, Liu died in a Shenyang hospital while still in Chinese custody.

The world cannot allow Jimmy Lai to become a second Liu Xiaobo.

Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun