Outrage As Hong Kong Jails Media Tycoon Jimmy Lai To 20 Years Along With 8 Journalists (Worthy News In-Depth)

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

WASHINGTON / HONG KONG / BEIJING (Worthy News) – Christian rights activists have condemned Chinese and Hong Kong authorities after Catholic publisher and democracy advocate Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison under Hong Kong’s sweeping National Security Law.

ChinaAid, a U.S.-based Christian advocacy group, told Worthy News on Thursday that the ruling represents a grave assault on religious liberty and press freedom.

Rights organizations say this week’s decision marks one of the harshest blows yet to press freedom in the once semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

ChinaAid told Worthy News that Lai and the others “were punished solely for exercising freedom of expression and upholding journalistic integrity. Their convictions represent a deliberate and systematic assault on press freedom, religious freedom, and the rule of law.”

Lai, 78, founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was convicted of “collusion with foreign forces” and conspiracy to publish “seditious” material. Prosecutors cited more than 160 articles as evidence of what authorities described as threats to national security — allegations Lai and his supporters reject as politically motivated.

The guilty verdict was delivered on December 15, 2025, with sentencing following about two months later. Authorities forced Apple Daily to close in June 2021 after freezing its assets and arresting senior executives, effectively silencing one of Hong Kong’s most outspoken pro-democracy media outlets.

APPLE DAILY EDITORS, ACTIVISTS JAILED

Six former senior Apple Daily editors were sentenced in the same case: Cheung Kim-hung (6 years, 9 months), Ryan Law Wai-kwong (10 years), Lam Man-chung (10 years), Chan Pui-man (7 years), Fung Wai-kong (10 years), and Yeung Ching-kee (7 years, 3 months).

Two pro-democracy activists tried alongside them — Chan Tsz-wah and Andy Li — received prison terms of 6 years, 3 months, and 7 years, 3 months, respectively.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a Paris-based media freedom watchdog, said Li is believed to be held in a high-security psychiatric facility. Advocacy groups report he is under heightened custodial conditions, though Hong Kong authorities have not publicly detailed those arrangements.

RSF noted that Lai has been detained since December 2020, much of that time in solitary confinement with limited daily exercise. His family has said he has suffered significant weight loss and ongoing health concerns. Supporters warn that prolonged isolation and restricted conditions could further endanger the 78-year-old publisher.

ChinaAid added that despite the conditions, Lai remains steadfast in his Catholic faith. According to the group, he reads Scripture daily, prays, and creates religious artwork while in custody. ChinaAid founder Bob Fu has described Lai and his colleagues as “prisoners of conscience,” urging sustained international pressure.

BRITAIN, EU, AND UN CONDEMN VERDICT

International reaction was swift and unusually direct.

“For 78-year-old Jimmy Lai, 20 years is an effective life sentence, following a politically motivated prosecution under a law that was imposed to silence China’s critics,” said British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper. “The Hong Kong authorities must end Jimmy Lai’s appalling ordeal and release him to be with his family.”

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, agreed, saying the verdict was incompatible with international law and must be overturned.

“This outcome highlights how the vague and overly broad provisions of Hong Kong’s national security legislation can lead to being interpreted and enforced in violation of Hong Kong’s international human rights obligations,” Türk added.

Anitta Hipper, spokesperson for the European Union, said the bloc “deplores” the outcome of Lai’s years-long prosecution and called for his “immediate and unconditional release.”

Western governments have warned that the case further damages Hong Kong’s international reputation as a global financial and legal hub.

Lai’s son, Sebastien Lai, said his father feared “dying alone” in prison. His legal team described him as “the world’s current highest-profile political prisoner.”

PARALLELS DRAWN TO LIU XIAOBO

Press freedom advocates have drawn comparisons to Chinese democracy activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, who passed away in detention.

Liu was sentenced in 2009 to 11 years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power” after co-authoring the pro-democracy manifesto Charter 08. While serving his sentence, he was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer and denied permission to seek medical treatment abroad.

He died on July 13, 2017, at age 61, while still in state custody — the first Nobel Peace Prize laureate to die in detention in modern times. His death triggered global condemnation and intensified scrutiny of China’s human rights record.

RSF Director General Thibaut Bruttin warned that insufficient international pressure contributed to Liu’s fate and said Lai’s case demands sustained diplomatic attention. “His sentence must not become a death sentence,” he stressed.

HONG KONG’S EROSION OF AUTONOMY

Hong Kong was handed over from the United Kingdom to China on July 1, 1997, under the “one country, two systems” framework enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The agreement guaranteed Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy, including an independent judiciary, free press, and civil liberties, for 50 years — until 2047.

However, critics say those protections have eroded sharply, particularly following mass pro-democracy protests in 2019 and Beijing’s imposition of the National Security Law in June 2020. The legislation criminalizes broadly defined acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces.

According to RSF, Hong Kong now ranks 140th in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, down from 18th place two decades ago. China ranks 178th out of 180 countries surveyed.

Supporters say Lai’s case has become a defining test of whether the international community will continue pressing Beijing over human rights — or accept what they describe as the steady dismantling of Hong Kong’s promised freedoms.

Latest Worthy News