Don’t forget Jimmy Lai
Hailed by some as a hero by most and scorned by others as a traitor, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy media businessman Jimmy Lai is in the final stage of his national security trial. Lai is accused by the Chinese government of colluding with foreign forces under a Beijing-imposed national security law.
The trial might be slightly delayed as a judge called for another adjournment so that a medical device could be installed to monitor Lai’s heart. Lai’s lawyers and his son Sebastien have raised concerns over his deteriorating health over the past year. The 77-year-old Lai was noticeably thinner when he appeared in court last week.
His trial has drawn international attention, with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling for the release of Lai, who is a British citizen. Colonial UK might not have the best track record vis-à-vis Hong Kong as the UK handed over Hong Kong to China in 1997 after 156 years of British rule. Since then, China has little by little destroyed the democracy in Hong Kong and diminished its role as a global financial powerhouse. Also U.S. President Trump had earlier said he would do everything he can to save Jimmy Lai.
Lai has been detained since December 2020 and faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if he is convicted. Critics say Lai’s case shows how Hong Kong’s legal system has been weaponized to silence political opposition. It is not really about a weaponized system like in the U.S. where democrats are trying to cheat and use the system to destroy opponents. This has been the case as it relates to Trump before he was elected president. In China it is more Kafka like with made up accusations by the ruling communist in a one-party country, in effect a dictatorship. Any charges can made up as the judiciary system is in place to support the communist party.
Lai has been a persistent thorn in China’s side. Unlike other tycoons who rose to the top in Hong Kong, Lai became one of the fiercest critics of the Chinese state and a leading figure advocating democracy in the former British territory. Lai is on trial for breaching national security and colluding with foreign forces. He is the most prominent person charged under the controversial national security law which China introduced in 2020, in response to massive protests which erupted in Hong Kong the year before.
The legislation criminalizes anything Beijing deems to be subversive or secessionist, from chanting slogans to participating in pro-democracy protests. Beijing says the national security law is necessary to maintain stability in Hong Kong but critics say it has effectively outlawed dissent. To stay in power, the Chinese rulers cannot accept opposition and they witness how the Soviet Union crumbled and disintegrated by allowing democratic forces to destroy the communist party. They will do anything to prevent this to happen in China. At the same time, the western democracies have been passive and not try to force China to release Lai. They could put more pressure on China if they really desired.
Jimmy Lai was born in Guangzhou, a city in southern China, to a wealthy family that lost everything when the communists took power in 1949. He was 12 years old when he fled his village in mainland China, arriving in Hong Kong as a stowaway on a fishing boat. While working odd jobs and knitting in a small clothing shop he taught himself English. He went from a menial role to eventually founding a multi-million-dollar empire including the international clothing brand Giordano. The chain was a huge success. But when China sent in tanks to crush pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989, Lai began a new journey as a vocal democracy activist as well as an entrepreneur.
He started writing columns criticizing the massacre that followed the demonstrations in Beijing and established a publishing house that went on to become one of Hong Kong’s most influential. As China responded by threatening to shut his stores on the mainland, leading him to sell the company, Lai launched a string of popular pro-democracy titles that included Next, a digital magazine, and the widely read Apple Daily newspaper. This has seen him become a hero for many in Hong Kong, who view him as a man of courage who took great risks to defend the freedoms of the city.
In recent years, masked attackers firebombed Lai’s house and company headquarters. He was also the target of an assassination plot. This is in line with Soviet behavior in order to stay in power. But none of the threats stopped him from airing his views robustly. He was a prominent part of the city’s pro-democracy demonstrations and was arrested twice in 2021 on illegal assembly charges. He has been in custody since December of that year.
It is worth paying attention to the upcoming trial is it is a reflection of China. A country vulnerable, afraid and weak with the wrong, corrupt values. For a long time, the west, including the U.S. have been treating China too nicely and undeservingly well, in the hope of expanding the economy by getting cheaper products and exporting goods to China. It is time to learn that China is nothing else than a thuggish country where the unelected rulers are scared of losing power. It is time to stand up against China.