Shortly after the October 2023 Synod in Rome, ten Catholic bishops from around the world released a public statement calling for the immediate and unconditional release from prison of Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong entrepreneur, media executive, and human rights activist. Lai was awaiting a show trial (which continues today) on charges of having violated a draconian “national security” law that was adopted in 2020 and aimed at crushing what was left of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. At the time of the bishops’ appeal, Lai had been imprisoned in solitary confinement for almost 1,000 days, and the prelates were polite but firm: “There is no place for such cruelty and oppression in a territory that claims to uphold the rule of law and respect the right to freedom of expression.”
The over-the-top response from the Hong Kong authorities and their local media mouthpieces to this plea for decency was grossly out of proportion to the bishops’ request, and all the more telling for that.
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