Hong Kong Court Jails Media Tycoon, Activists, For Pro-Democracy Rallies

By Stefan J. Bos. Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – A court in Hong Kong on Friday sentenced veteran pro-democracy leaders to prison terms of between eight and 18 months as Beijing remodels the city into one resembling any other on the Chinese mainland.

Among those detained is media tycoon Jimmy Lai. He received a one-year prison term for participating in an unauthorized assembly during the 2019 mass pro-democracy protests in the former British colony.

Lai, described by Chinese state media as a “traitor,” faces several criminal prosecutions, four of which were heard in court on Friday. At another of these hearings, he was charged under the national security law, punishable by life imprisonment, trial observers said.

The 73-year-old founder of Apple Daily is a fierce critic of Communist-run China, which took control of Hong Kong in 1997.

In total, nine activists were sentenced on Friday for participating in a demonstration on August 18, 2019. Another three received sentences concerning a separate protest on August 31 in that year.

An estimated 1.7 million people marched in opposition to a bill that would have allowed suspects to be extradited to mainland China for trial.

Friday’s verdict comes as the mainland is increasingly cracking down on Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms, rights activists say.

However, divisions emerged Friday, and Western allies to react the arrests with the European Union failing to show a united front against the crackdown.

EU member Hungary reportedly blocked a European Union statement criticizing China’s new security law in Hong Kong, two diplomats said. The move was likely to undermine efforts to confront Beijing’s curbing of freedoms in the former British colony, Reuters news agency reported.

The EU, which aims to support Britain and the United States in upholding human rights in Hong Kong, was due to make its statement on Monday at a meeting of EU foreign ministers. But the bloc failed to win the necessary agreement from all 27 EU states.

Hungary’s reluctance comes after documents leaked showing the government signing a deal with China to host the EU’s first Chinese university. The government agreed to receive a $1.6 billion loan from China for the Hungary Fudan University, Worthy News reported earlier.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán also accepted a $2.3 billion loan for a Budapest-Belgrade railway, prompting the opposition to question his government’s perceived cozy relationship with Communist-run China.

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