The Chinese government has imprisoned the pro-democracy activist and media entrepreneur but not the spirit of freedom that motivates him.
The Chinese government has imprisoned the pro-democracy activist and media entrepreneur but not the spirit of freedom that motivates him.
‘D on’t draw any connection to politics.”
These were the words of Hong Kong District Court judge Stanley Chan last month on sentencing Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy activist and media entrepreneur, to a prison term of nearly six years. The sentence came down after Lai and one of his associates at Apple Daily, the popular tabloid newspaper closed by the Chinese government in 2021, were found guilty of fraud in October.
Of course, for anyone familiar with Lai’s persecution by the Chinese Communist Party over the past two years, to avoid making any connection to the political motives behind Lai’s prosecution would be an exercise in willful blindness. Lai had already served 20 months behind bars for participating in “unauthorized” pro-democracy protests throughout Hong Kong in 2019.
The CCP also alleges that Lai colluded with foreign countries and the international community to impose sanctions on Hong Kong in violation of the national-security laws enacted in response to the protests. The trial for that charge, punishable by a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, was postponed until September 2023, as the CCP aims to disqualify Lai’s British lawyer from being allowed by law to represent him.
Why is the CCP persecuting the 75-year-old Lai through this flurry of legal charges? For the same reason that more than 200 Hong Kong police officers broke through the doors of Lai’s newspaper one fateful day in August 2020: The CCP fears Lai and the way he challenges the party’s status quo. But truth is hard to extinguish, and two years later the flame lit by Lai’s Next Media group still burns strong for free speech and autonomy, against Beijing’s tightening grip — even from inside a prison cell.
Thirty-three years ago, Lai watched Chinese pro-democracy protests culminate in the Tiananmen Square massacre. He knew he had to act. This wasn’t simply because he had the means to make a difference, having amassed a fortune as the founder of the clothing company and retail chain Giordano following his escape to Hong Kong as a child. Rather, he understood from his personal experience growing up in 1950s mainland China that communist regimes deprive their people of basic needs and fundamental freedoms. To foster democratic ideals in the face of Beijing’s zeal to control the lives of Hong Kongers, and despite its departure from the laissez-fare approach ensured amid the city’s handover, Lai established Next Media and Apple Daily.
Before being closed by the government last year, Apple Daily courageously critiqued the CCP and its Beijing-appointed leadership, shining a light on the restrictions forced on a people once promised a measure of autonomy through China’s “one country, two systems” guarantee. Lai’s efforts helped ignite a movement, as millions began to organize in the name of free speech and free markets. The anti-government demonstrations that resulted in 2019 were too great for the CCP to ignore, and it set its sights on all those who contributed to the uprising, including Lai and Apple Daily.
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Despite Lai’s imprisonment, he continues to serve as a beacon of hope for those in Hong Kong and across the globe who are fighting tyranny. A billionaire with endless resources at his disposal, Lai could have easily turned away from this responsibility, trading his principles for freedom, as the CCP may have expected. However, Lai chose a different path. “This is a very precious moment for me,” he said in a recorded interview following his arrest. “If a person is able to know that he is doing the right thing, to understand that no matter how big the difficulties are, how much suffering he has to go through — he knows he’s doing the right things in his heart.”
Lai’s shining example on behalf of press freedom and democratic principles is why my organization, the Fund for American Studies (TFAS), recently awarded him the Kenneth Y. Tomlinson Award for Courageous Journalism. To continue honoring Lai here in the United States, we must ensure that his sacrifices are not made in vain. We must press our own government to advocate strongly for justice in his case. We also must look inward and reflect on his unwavering commitment to the free press, without which a democratic nation cannot function. Armed with the First Amendment afforded to us as Americans, we must continue to carry the torch that Jimmy Lai has lit in the fight for democracy and free speech wherever they may be under threat.