Hong Kong’s High Court on Monday ruled that pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai was guilty of working with foreign groups and publishing materials considered seditious under a national security law imposed by China. The charges carry a possible sentence of life in prison.
The case attracted worldwide attention, with many closely watching how independent Hong Kong’s courts remain. This comes after several years of tighter controls on rights and freedoms in the city following the large pro-democracy protests in 2019, which Beijing viewed as a threat to its authority.
Who is Jimmy Lai?
Lai is knows as Hong Kong’s pro-democracy media tycoon. His supporters view him as a champion of freedom, while Beijing considers him a key organiser of the 2019 protests and someone who encouraged US sanctions against Hong Kong and China.
Lai was one of the city’s most vocal critics of the Chinese government and a leading advocate for democracy. In an interview with the BBC in 2020, Lai has described himself as having a naturally rebellious personality.
According to the BBC, Jimmy Lai was born in Guangzhou, southern China, into a wealthy family that lost everything when the communists came to power in 1949. At the age of 12, he escaped his village and arrived in Hong Kong as a stowaway on a fishing boat.
In Hong Kong, he worked various small jobs and learned English on his own while knitting in a tiny clothing shop, the BBC report added. He eventually built a business empire, including the successful international clothing brand Giordano.
Lai’s career took a political turn after China’s military crushed the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. He began writing critical columns about the crackdown and set up a publishing company that became one of Hong Kong’s most influential media outlets.
When Chinese authorities threatened his stores on the mainland, he sold the company and focused on media. He launched popular pro-democracy publications, including a digital magazine and the widely read Apple Daily. Through these outlets, he openly criticised the Chinese government at a time when many local media were self-censoring.
When Lai reached out to Donald Trump
Lai appealed to Donald Trump in 2021 for lending his support to Hong Kong, seeing him as the only hope to protect the city from Chinese control. His newspaper, Apple Daily, ran a front-page letter calling for international help.
Since 2020, Lai has faced multiple charges, including illegal assembly and fraud. His case has drawn global attention, with human rights organisations and foreign governments calling for his release.
His son, Sebastien Lai, has traveled internationally to protest his father’s imprisonment, criticising Hong Kong for punishing qualities that should be admired. He described his father as someone jailed for speaking the truth, acting with courage, and standing for freedom.
In court, Judge Esther Toh even said that Lai had long held strong resentment toward China.