When China peacefully took control of Hong Kong in 1997, Beijing’s communist rulers promised to preserve the former British colony’s freedoms and way of life. That promise was eroded a long time ago, and Monday’s guilty verdict in the trial of media mogul and pro-democracy stalwart Jimmy Lai extinguished any flicker of hope that still burned in the once vibrant city.
Lai has been held for some five years, mostly in solitary confinement. The three judges who handed down the decision were doing precisely what they were handpicked to do — ignore the evidence and use this political show trial to find Lai guilty of colluding with foreign forces and conspiring to publish seditious material, among other ludicrous offenses.
Lai’s sentencing will come early next year, and the 78-year-old, who is in ill health, now faces life in prison. Expect mainland China to demand Hong Kong throw the book at him as a warning to any others who would dare try to advocate for democracy in Hong Kong.
It’s worth looking at some of what the judges wrote in their 855-page ruling to see precisely how far Hong Kong has fallen. Lai’s intent, they said, was to “seek the downfall” of the Communist Party, and he used his now shuttered newspaper, Apple Daily, to write and publish articles and editorials to make the Hong Kong people view the government with “hatred and contempt.”
The judges said Lai “affiliated himself with Western values.” Among the evidence presented: meetings he had as a newspaper editor with then-Vice President Mike Pence and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Lai is the most prominent victim, but far from the only one. China enacted its nebulous national security law over Hong Kong in 2020. Since then, Beijing has used it like a sledgehammer to decimate the city’s pro-democracy movement. Former lawmakers, activists and students have been arrested. Dozens of unions and civil society groups have been forced to disband. Independent media outlets have shut down.
In the latest sign of how mainland-style repression has remade Hong Kong, the moderate Democratic Party formally voted to disband on Sunday after three decades. They were once the largest opposition bloc in the legislature.
On Dec. 7, Hong Kong held a second stage-managed vote in a so-called “patriots-only” election where no opposition candidates were allowed to run. Turnout was a paltry 31.9 percent, with many casting invalid ballots as a form of protest.
The value of democratic accountability is more than theoretical.
Hong Kong is still reeling from a devastating apartment fire last month that claimed at least 160 lives. There have been reports of faulty and substandard construction materials used in renovation work that was ongoing, as well as fire alarms that didn’t work. Residents had been complaining about the dangers for months.
The government set up a committee to investigate the fire — and then immediately began arresting people petitioning for accountability. China’s national security office summoned foreign media outlets to accuse them of having “distorted and smeared the government’s disaster relief and aftermath work.” This is Hong Kong today.
President Donald Trump wants to cut a major deal with China, and he has offered President Xi Jinping a series of concessions to get there. Lai’s only hope is that Trump can secure his freedom as part of those negotiations. The great irony is that Trump may cut a deal to free someone who is only imprisoned because China reneged on another deal with a Western country.
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