The leader of Hong Kong has celebrated the 20-year jail sentence given to British pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai, saying the media tycoon had “poisoned” the city.
John Lee was defiant in the face of criticism from Western nations, including the UK, following the 78-year-old’s sentencing yesterday.
He was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of publishing seditious materials last December.
Mr Lai denied all the charges and said he was a “political prisoner” facing persecution from Beijing. His son, Sebastien, told Sky News it was “essentially a life sentence… a death sentence”.
Sir Keir Starmer had been under pressure to raise Mr Lai’s case with China’s Xi Jinping when he visited the country last month.
While the government is seeking closer economic ties with Beijing, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Mr Lai’s prosecution was “politically motivated” and expressed concern for his health.
But China remains defiant despite the criticism, which has also come from the likes of the US and the UN.
China’s London embassy described Ms Cooper’s comments as “erroneous”, and accused the UK of “interfering in Hong Kong’s rule of law”.
Since Mr Lai was sentenced, the Beijing regime has released a white paper outlining plans to further enhance a draconian national security law that has been used to clamp down on free speech and dissent in Hong Kong.
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Jimmy Lai leaves the Court of Final Appeal by prison van in Hong Kong before his sentencing. Pic: Reuters
The city, which Britain handed over in 1997, was the scene of huge pro-democracy protests in 2019. The white paper described the security law as a “legal shield” that had restored order.
Mr Lee said Mr Lai’s sentencing sent a “solemn warning against malicious plots” that endanger national security, and welcomed the white paper’s publication.
Mr Lai’s sentencing came more than five years after he was arrested. The founder of the now defunct Apple Daily newspaper is a long-standing critic of the Chinese Communist Party.
Protesters clash with police in November 2019. Pic: Reuters
‘The embodiment of what they fear’
Speaking after the verdict, Sky’s Asia correspondent Helen-Ann Smith said she spoke to Mr Lai’s biographer Mark Clifford last month.
“He’s really the embodiment of what they fear,” she cited the author and close friend of the jailed tycoon as saying.
“A principled person, absolutely refusing to back down, smart, articulate, and crucially with a platform.”
