Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was found guilty Monday of violating Chinese national security laws, the culmination of a years-long effort on the part of the Chinese Communist Party to punish Lai for his staunch pro-democracy activism.
Lai was convicted of conspiracy to collude with a foreign country to endanger national security and conspiracy to publish seditious publications. He previously pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Following a wave of pro-democracy protests in 2019, Beijing rolled back many of the freedoms Hong Kong citizens were promised after China retook the city in 1997, justifying the repression of anti-regime opinions on national security grounds.
Lai was then arrested in August 2020 after his pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, was raided by Chinese authorities. Lai has since spent five years in custody, much of it in solitary confinement.
The three judges who found Lai guilty focused on his meetings with U.S. government officials around the time of the 2019 protests, including former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, among others.
Judge Esther Toh described Lai’s intent to bring down the Chinese Communist Party as “analogous to the situation where an American national asked for help from Russia to bring down the U.S. government under the guise of helping the state of California.”
Lai testified on behalf of himself for 52 days of the marathon 156-day trial. He just turned 78.
There was no jury present during the trial.
“In the 800-page verdict they have there is essentially nothing, nothing that incriminates him,” Sebastien Lai, one of Jimmy Lai’s children, told reporters in London. “This is a perfect example of how the national security law has been molded and weaponized against someone who essentially said stuff that they didn’t like.”
The verdict details that Lai spent years conspiring against the Chinese government, and that Lai’s commitment to take down the Chinese Communist Party was unwavering and consistent.
“This was the ultimate aim of the conspiracies and secessionist publications,” the judges wrote in their verdict.
Lai rose from humble beginnings to build a business empire in Hong Kong. At the age of 12, Lai’s mother was sent to a labor camp, and left with nothing, Lai fled Mao Zedong’s China for Hong Kong, where he worked as a child laborer in a garment factory. Lai worked his way up from factory worker to billionaire, building an impressive life for himself and his family, including starting the retail chain Giordano. At the time of his arrest in 2020, Lai was worth $1.2 billion.
Following the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, Lai founded Next Magazine, which became one of the most popular publications in Hong Kong. Lai’s other news outlet, Apple Daily, was a sister publication to the magazine.
Lai used his publications to promote his pro-democracy views, often writing columns himself, criticizing the authoritarian government. He also participated in and supported pro-democracy protests. Lai was the subject of a foiled assassination plot back in 2008.
Lai converted to Catholicism in 1997 and attended church with his wife, Theresa.
“If I go away, I not only give up my destiny, I give up God, I give up my religion, I give up what I believe in,” Lai said, after deciding to stay in Hong Kong. “I am what I am. I am what I believe. I cannot change it. And if I can’t change it, I have to accept my fate with praise.”
Officials in the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom closely followed the case and appealed to the CCP for Lai’s release. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer previously said his country is committed to bringing Lai home, as he is a British citizen.
Lai’s sentencing will be scheduled for a later date, but he may be facing life in prison — the collusion charges carry a maximum penalty of life behind bars.
Human rights groups are condemning the verdict.
Elaine Pearson, the Asia director for Human Rights Watch, called Lai’s conviction “both cruel and a travesty of justice.”
“The Chinese government’s mistreatment of Jimmy Lai aims to silence everyone who dares to criticize the Communist Party,” Pearson said in a statement.
Throughout the trial, Lai faced many health challenges, including heart palpitations back in August, although the Hong Kong government denies any concerns.
Hearings for Lai to argue for a shorter sentence are set to begin on January 12.