Need something to talk about? Text us for thought-provoking opinions that can break any awkward silence.ArrowRight
The world will hear more about this law starting Monday, when Lai’s sham-trial is slated to finally begin, presumably in Hong Kong where he has spent the past three years in solitary confinement for convictions on lesser trumped-up charges. The trial is expected to take 80 court days, with opening statements alone lasting a week.
But don’t hold your breath for news alerts. China has been known to pack courtrooms with spectators, leaving no seats for the media. (Developments will be posted online at SupportJimmyLai.com.) Beijing is well aware that the West will be watching this landmark trial. Britain, where Lai is a citizen, and the people of Hong Kong surely will be hypervigilant as Lai is expected to take the witness stand.
Advertisement
To those unfamiliar, Lai, a bon vivant who made his billions in fashion retail, was the founder and publisher of Apple Daily, the island’s most popular, pro-democratic newspaper. That is until 2020, when some 400 Chinese police descended on the property, arresting editors and others and, in short order, shutting the paper down.
Lai was subsequently arrested on a variety of bogus charges, including a minor lease violation that was conjured into a fraud charge, for which he was sentenced to more than five years in prison. He is currently serving this sentence with 23 hours a day in solitary. His trial next week will focus on three charges under the national security law, which made secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers punishable by life in prison. The definitions of the above are basically whatever Chinese officials want them to be. The law also specified that trials could take place in China.
One of the charges against Lai is colluding with foreign forces. This basically refers to his visits to the United States, where he met with such dignitaries as Sen. Mitch McConnell, Rep. Jim McGovern, Sen. Todd C. Young, Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Nancy Pelosi. He’s also charged with sedition because his newspaper has criticized China’s increasing crackdowns on Hong Kong’s freedoms. For these “crimes,” Lai has received several journalism awards.
Advertisement
Needless to say, the charges against Lai disregard China’s promise, when it took over from Britain in 1997, to respect Hong Kong’s autonomy for 50 years.
Follow this authorKathleen Parker's opinionsFollow
“Chortle, chortle,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping might respond, if, indeed, he chortles.
Hong Kong’s 26 years under China’s rule has been marked instead by crackdowns, protests and a growing freedom movement. Lai, who committed millions of his own dollars to the pro-democracy movement, was often front and center.
In June 2020, he was charged with “incitement to knowingly take part in an unauthorized assembly” for lighting a candle in Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen Square vigil. He wrote to the court: “If commemorating those who died because of injustice is a crime, then inflict on me that crime and let me suffer the punishment of this crime, so I may share the burden and glory of those young men and women who shed blood on June 4 to proclaim truth, justice and goodness.”
Advertisement
A fearless fighter and a man of deep faith, Lai could have fled at any time before his arrest but refused to abandon Hong Kong to save himself. A convert to Catholicism, he may well consider his tribulations in consonance with the sacrifice often required in the pursuit of truth. Some of his friends with whom I’ve often spoken suggest that Lai may see his confinement in terms of a monastic life. He spends his days studying theology and sketching religious drawings, they say.
This isn’t to suggest that he is happy about his plight, only that at 76 and diabetic, he has found a spiritual path to consolation. In this, he’s also in danger of becoming a martyr, the single outcome China should want to avoid. Yet Hong Kong officials can’t help boasting that they have a 100 percent conviction rate under the national security law. If Lai is convicted, he faces a sentence of 10 years to life. Should the worst happen and he dies in prison, it will hardly be the last China hears of its most-famous opponent. As a symbol of freedom — and of what Hong Kong once was — Lai would be more dangerous to China dead than alive.
China has other options. The best would be to release Lai from prison in recognition of his having already served adequate time. This is the constant hope of Lai’s family, including his son Sebastien. On Tuesday, the younger Lai met with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, whose office soon afterward posted a statement on X:
Advertisement
“The UK opposes the national security law and will continue to stand by Jimmy Lai and the people of [Hong Kong].”
Sebastien Lai has found hope in this brief message even as China’s U.K. embassy condemned the men’s meeting. The next day, China put bounties of 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($128,000) on the heads of even more Hong Kong dissidents overseas. In the past, John Lee, Hong Kong’s chief executive, has said these activists would be “pursued for life.”
The sad if satisfying irony of China’s bullying is that the power-seeking Xi is cutting off his nose to spite his face. By lowering the hammer on Hong Kong, he risks losing his cash cow. Young, educated Hong Kongers are quietly abandoning ship. Foreign businesses, investors and tech companies are also on the run. Ernst & Young LLP’s legal affiliate in Hong Kong is the latest to report that it will shutter its offices, in January. The rule of law turns out to be an economic asset.
Advertisement
Mainland China is similarly leaking foreign investors, including Apple, which is accelerating plans to move its production from China to India, according to 9To5Mac.
It would seem that China could use some good PR right about now. It needs a face, an emblem, something or someone who represents the best qualities of a modern world rooted in freedom, justice and goodness. Maybe Xi can think of someone. Before it’s too late.
Share Comments
Popular opinions articles
HAND CURATED
- Opinion|Could the local news crisis get any worse? Look at Scranton.December 14, 2023Opinion|Could the local news crisis get any worse? Look at Scranton.December 14, 2023
- Opinion|Cheering Hamas on campus, too uneducated to grasp how grotesque that isDecember 13, 2023Opinion|Cheering Hamas on campus, too uneducated to grasp how grotesque that isDecember 13, 2023
- Opinion|My Trump interview had a purpose: Giving Latinos a chance to hear himDecember 13, 2023Opinion|My Trump interview had a purpose: Giving Latinos a chance to hear himDecember 13, 2023
View 3 more stories
Loading...
If at times American law is an arse, then China’s national security law, by which Beijing hopes to condemn billionaire democracy activist Jimmy Lai to life in prison, is an absolute farce.
The law, passed just three years ago to quash dissent in Hong Kong, uses pseudo-legal language familiar to Franz Kafka fans. And it is being wielded by prosecutors and judges too comical to be the Keystone Kops. Somewhere, I hope, a screenwriter is feverishly typing.
The world will hear more about this law starting Monday, when Lai’s sham-trial is slated to finally begin, presumably in Hong Kong where he has spent the past three years in solitary confinement for convictions on lesser trumped-up charges. The trial is expected to take 80 court days, with opening statements alone lasting a week.
But don’t hold your breath for news alerts. China has been known to pack courtrooms with spectators, leaving no seats for the media. (Developments will be posted online at SupportJimmyLai.com.) Beijing is well aware that the West will be watching this landmark trial. Britain, where Lai is a citizen, and the people of Hong Kong surely will be hypervigilant as Lai is expected to take the witness stand.
To those unfamiliar, Lai, a bon vivant who made his billions in fashion retail, was the founder and publisher of Apple Daily, the island’s most popular, pro-democratic newspaper. That is until 2020, when some 400 Chinese police descended on the property, arresting editors and others and, in short order, shutting the paper down.
Lai was subsequently arrested on a variety of bogus charges, including a minor lease violation that was conjured into a fraud charge, for which he was sentenced to more than five years in prison. He is currently serving this sentence with 23 hours a day in solitary. His trial next week will focus on three charges under the national security law, which made secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers punishable by life in prison. The definitions of the above are basically whatever Chinese officials want them to be. The law also specified that trials could take place in China.
One of the charges against Lai is colluding with foreign forces. This basically refers to his visits to the United States, where he met with such dignitaries as Sen. Mitch McConnell, Rep. Jim McGovern, Sen. Todd C. Young, Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Nancy Pelosi. He’s also charged with sedition because his newspaper has criticized China’s increasing crackdowns on Hong Kong’s freedoms. For these “crimes,” Lai has received several journalism awards.
Needless to say, the charges against Lai disregard China’s promise, when it took over from Britain in 1997, to respect Hong Kong’s autonomy for 50 years.
“Chortle, chortle,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping might respond, if, indeed, he chortles.
Hong Kong’s 26 years under China’s rule has been marked instead by crackdowns, protests and a growing freedom movement. Lai, who committed millions of his own dollars to the pro-democracy movement, was often front and center.
In June 2020, he was charged with “incitement to knowingly take part in an unauthorized assembly” for lighting a candle in Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen Square vigil. He wrote to the court: “If commemorating those who died because of injustice is a crime, then inflict on me that crime and let me suffer the punishment of this crime, so I may share the burden and glory of those young men and women who shed blood on June 4 to proclaim truth, justice and goodness.”
A fearless fighter and a man of deep faith, Lai could have fled at any time before his arrest but refused to abandon Hong Kong to save himself. A convert to Catholicism, he may well consider his tribulations in consonance with the sacrifice often required in the pursuit of truth. Some of his friends with whom I’ve often spoken suggest that Lai may see his confinement in terms of a monastic life. He spends his days studying theology and sketching religious drawings, they say.
This isn’t to suggest that he is happy about his plight, only that at 76 and diabetic, he has found a spiritual path to consolation. In this, he’s also in danger of becoming a martyr, the single outcome China should want to avoid. Yet Hong Kong officials can’t help boasting that they have a 100 percent conviction rate under the national security law. If Lai is convicted, he faces a sentence of 10 years to life. Should the worst happen and he dies in prison, it will hardly be the last China hears of its most-famous opponent. As a symbol of freedom — and of what Hong Kong once was — Lai would be more dangerous to China dead than alive.
China has other options. The best would be to release Lai from prison in recognition of his having already served adequate time. This is the constant hope of Lai’s family, including his son Sebastien. On Tuesday, the younger Lai met with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, whose office soon afterward posted a statement on X:
“The UK opposes the national security law and will continue to stand by Jimmy Lai and the people of [Hong Kong].”
Sebastien Lai has found hope in this brief message even as China’s U.K. embassy condemned the men’s meeting. The next day, China put bounties of 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($128,000) on the heads of even more Hong Kong dissidents overseas. In the past, John Lee, Hong Kong’s chief executive, has said these activists would be “pursued for life.”
The sad if satisfying irony of China’s bullying is that the power-seeking Xi is cutting off his nose to spite his face. By lowering the hammer on Hong Kong, he risks losing his cash cow. Young, educated Hong Kongers are quietly abandoning ship. Foreign businesses, investors and tech companies are also on the run. Ernst & Young LLP’s legal affiliate in Hong Kong is the latest to report that it will shutter its offices, in January. The rule of law turns out to be an economic asset.
Mainland China is similarly leaking foreign investors, including Apple, which is accelerating plans to move its production from China to India, according to 9To5Mac.
It would seem that China could use some good PR right about now. It needs a face, an emblem, something or someone who represents the best qualities of a modern world rooted in freedom, justice and goodness. Maybe Xi can think of someone. Before it’s too late.
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Mort Laitner
Rami G Khouri
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
visit website
