A kangaroo court on Monday finally declared the great Jimmy Lai guilty of . . . various “crimes” that add up to refusing to stay silent as the Chinese Communist Party crushed Hong Kong’s freedoms.
The only real question now: Will China’s rulers insist on making him die in prison, or opt to ease some tensions with the West by letting him finish his days in quiet exile?
The authorities have made their example of him: It wasn’t enough to sentence him to five years on utterly phony fraud charges in 2022; to drive their point home, they’ve also convicted him of conspiracy to publish seditious articles and similar charges under the so-called national-security law Beijing ginned up in 2020 to quash dissent.
Lai’s true offense was running his pro-democracy Apple Daily, calling out the CCP’s abuses and betrayal of its promises to respect Hong Kong’s liberties, relentlessly crusading for the rule of law in Hong Kong.
And so the show trial, with three government-lapdog judges doing as they were told.
To the CCP, “it was essential that this showpiece event concluded in a conviction,” said Jonathan Price of the Lai defense team on Monday; does the party now think it wise to create a martyr?
Five years in solitary confinement without proper health care have left Lai, now 78, diabetic and emaciated with high blood pressure, recurring infections and chronic back and waist pain; his daughter Claire says he’s losing fingernails.
Whether his coming sentence is life imprisonment or “just” 15 years, he’ll die in prison unless President Xi Jinping decides to let him finish his days in Britain.
Lai is a UK citizen, though the British government finds itself unwilling to do more than call out his prosecution as “politically motivated,” while the European Union slams it as “emblematic of the erosion of democracy and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong.”
President Donald Trump, who raised Lai’s case with Xi a few months back, said again Monday, “I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release.”
No humanitarian concern will move Beijing, but self-interest might: Show some flexibility, rather than irrevocably tainting your relationship with the West.
Let Lai live out his last years (or months) with his children and grandchildren out of China’s sight.
Forcing an elderly man you’ve framed on bogus charges to rot to death in prison would be an unforgivable, unforgettable insult to the free world.
Free Jimmy Lai, before it’s too late.
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