Jimmy Lai speaks during an interview with AFP in Hong Kong on June 16, 2020.
Photographer: Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images
After Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong Probes the Limits of Civic Life
With the former media tycoon sentenced to 20 years in prison, Hong Kong residents are exploring the remaining space for debate and expression.
Little illustrates the divide between the West and China more sharply than the fate of Jimmy Lai, the former Hong Kong media baron sentenced this week to 20 years in prison for national security crimes.
Officials from the UK, European Union and United Nations condemned the sentence, calling it politically motivated and damaging to Hong Kong’s standing, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the outcome as “unjust and tragic.” From Beijing’s perspective, Lai threatened national security by seeking foreign intervention in Hong Kong’s affairs as part of a long-held effort to undermine China’s rise.