Sebastien Lai has sought a meeting with Starmer for more than two years to advocate for the release of his father, 77-year-old Jimmy Lai, who founded Apple Daily. His health is deteriorating and he risks dying in jail.

Lai has been imprisoned for over 1,600 days, mostly in isolation, while awaiting the outcome of a long-delayed trial for sedition and conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law. After Lai’s arrest in 2020, Apple Daily was shuttered on June 24, 2021, following police raids and the freezing of the paper’s assets.

Read the full joint letter here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CP Staff.

The U.S. State Department approved the potential sale, worth an estimated US$385m, of spare parts and support for F-16 jets and radars to Taiwan, hours before Lai began his trip to three Pacific nations, with stops in Hawaii and the U.S. territory of Guam.

“China urges the U.S. to immediately stop arming Taiwan and stop conniving at and supporting the ‘Taiwan independence forces’,” said China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Sunday.

“It damages China-U.S. relations, endangers peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait … China will closely follow the developments and take resolute and strong measures to defend our nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

China regards Taiwan as a renegade province that should be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. The democratic island has been self-governing since it effectively separated from mainland China in 1949 after the Chinese civil war.

Despite their lack of formal diplomatic ties, the U.S. has long been a key supplier of arms to Taiwan and is bound by U.S. legislation, the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, to provide the island with arms for its defense.

In a separate statement, the ministry said it “strongly condemned” the U.S. for “arranging” Lai’s stopover.

Lai arrived on Saturday in Hawaii to begin a two-day transit in the U.S. as part of a trip to the South Pacific, his first since assuming office.

“China firmly opposes any form of official contact between the United States and Taiwan, as well as any attempts by the leader of the Taiwanese authorities to visit the United States in any name or for any reason,” the Chinese ministry said, adding that it had “lodged serious protests with the U.S.”.

In response, Taiwan’s foreign ministry stressed that Lai’s transit was “legitimate” and “normal”.

“President Lai’s visits to diplomatic allies in the Pacific to strengthen diplomatic ties and his customary transit through the United States are all legitimate activities of the rights of a sovereign state,” the ministry said in a statement.

“If China reacts in any extreme way to a normal visit by the President it will be an inappropriate act by China that undermines regional peace and stability, and will be condemned by the international community.”

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Lai was given “red carpet treatment” on the tarmac when he arrived at Honolulu’s international airport, according to his office, which said it was the first time a Taiwanese president had been given such a welcome.

He was met by Hawaii Governor Josh Green as well as Ingrid Larson, managing director in Washington of the American Institute in Taiwan.

Lai visited the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbour and said the U.S. and Taiwan should “fight together to prevent war”.

“Peace is priceless, and war has no winners,” he said.

Lai also said he was “grateful” to the U.S. for its assistance in helping to ensure the success of the tour.

Lai is on a weeklong trip to visit the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, which are among the 12 countries that recognize Taiwan’s claim to statehood.

Edited by RFA Staff.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.

Off Beat

As the founder of popular clothing retailer Giordano and media company Next Digital, businessman Jimmy Lai had established himself as a household name in Hong Kong long before the world began to learn of him following his arrest in 2020. Under the newly passed National Security Law, Lai and other executives of his Apple Daily newspaper, an independent outlet with a pro-democracy bend, were arrested and charged on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces. Other charges were soon stacked upon Lai, including “unlawful assembly” for participating in the 2019 protests and a Tiananmen candlelight vigil in 2020.

Lai, whose trial has stretched on for nearly 100 days now, took to the stand to give his first testimony on November 20. RFA Insider invited Mark Clifford, a former board member of Next Digital and president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, to share what he expects the outcome of the trial to be, as well as his thoughts on the future of press freedom in Hong Kong.

Podcast Free Asia

Creative Multimedia Producer Lauren Kim spices things up on this week’s Podcast Free Asia by turning the conversation to the ubiquitous Korean accompaniment, kimchi!

With November 22 designated as Kimchi Day in several states, Lauren explains the history behind the holiday and the role kimchi has in her life as a Korean-American. To commemorate Kimchi Day, Lauren produced a video showcasing the preparation and taste-testing of North and South Korean-style kimchi.

The Rundown

The first story arrives from the touristy town of Vang Vieng, Laos, where six (five at the time of recording) backpackers have died due to suspected methanol poisoning after a night out drinking. Many of the victims had been staying at the same hostel and were rushed to the hospital the following morning, when staff noticed that the victims had failed to check out of their accommodation. Thai police confirmed that autopsies showed that at least several victims died from brain swelling caused by methanol, a clear, tasteless liquid used in household and industrial products such as paint strippers and insecticides. Methanol, which is much cheaper than drinking alcohol, is sometimes added to mixed drinks to boost the alcohol content, often with fatal consequences.

In the world of martial arts, a series of taekwon-do moves named the “unification” pattern is being renamed by the North Korea-backed federation for political reasons. The “unification” pattern will be referred to instead as the “Chang Hon” pattern after Gen. Choi Hong Hi, the founder of taekwon-do, as a sign of North Korean leadership moving away from its long-stated aim of eventual unification with South Korea.

The change is being implemented by one faction of the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), which was established by Choi in Seoul in the 1960s. However, when Choi expressed his intention to include North Korea in the ITF’s international outreach, South Korea refused and he went into exile in Canada. Meanwhile South Korea established the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF), which is currently known as World Taekwondo (WT).

Choi eventually became a citizen of North Korea and moved the ITF’s headquarters to Vienna. Later, his death further splintered the sport as three individuals claimed to be Choi’s legitimate successor as the ITF president, and each established rival world headquarters in Vienna, Toronto and Poland. North Korea endorses the Vienna-based ITF, which is the faction that is re-naming the “unification” pattern.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Amy Lee for RFA Insider.

Sebastien, who leads the #FreeJimmyLai campaign, last saw his father in August 2020 — weeks after Beijing imposed a national security law that led to a massive crackdown on pro-democracy advocates and journalists. Among them Lai, founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily.

After nearly four years in Hong Kong’s maximum-security Stanley Prison and multiple delays to his trial, the aging British citizen was due to take the stand for the first time on November 20 on charges of sedition and conspiring to collude with foreign forces, which he denies.

Lai, who has diabetes, routinely spends over 23 hours a day in solitary confinement, with only 50 minutes for restricted exercise and limited access to daylight, according to his international lawyers.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has found that Lai is unlawfully and arbitrarily detained and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for his release.

Responding to CPJ’s request for comment, a Hong Kong government spokesperson referred to a November 17 statement in which it said that Lai was “receiving appropriate treatment and care in prison” and that Hong Kong authorities “strongly deplore any form of interference.”

In an interview with CPJ, Sebastien spoke about Britain’s bilateral ties with China, as well as Hong Kong — a former British colony where his father arrived as a stowaway on a fishing boat at age 12, before finding jobs in a garment factory and eventually launched a clothing retail chain and his media empire.

What do you anticipate when your father takes the stand for the first time?

To be honest, I do not know. My father is a strong person, but the Hong Kong government has spent four years trying to break him. I don’t think they can break his spirit but with his treatment they are in the process of breaking his body. We will see the extent of that on the stand.

Your father turned 77 recently. How is he doing in solitary confinement?

The last time I saw my father was in August of 2020. I haven’t been able to return to my hometown since and therefore have been unable to visit him in prison. His health has declined significantly. He is now 77, and, having spent nearly four years in a maximum-security prison in solitary confinement, his treatment is inhumane. For his dedication to freedom, they have taken his away.

For his bravery in standing in defense of others, they have denied him human contact. For his strong faith in God, they have denied him Holy Communion.

We have seen governments across the political spectrum call for Jimmy Lai’s release —the U.S., the European Parliament, Australia, Canada, Germany, and Ireland, among others. What does that mean to you?

We are incredibly grateful for all the support from multiple states in calling for my father’s release. The charges against my father are sham charges. The Hong Kong government has weaponized their legal system to crack down on all who criticize them.

You met with the U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy recently, who said Jimmy Lai’s case remains a priority and the government will press for consular access. What would you like to see Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government do?

They have publicly stated that they want to normalize relationships with China and to increase trade. I don’t see how that can be achieved if there is a British citizen in Hong Kong in the process of being killed for standing up for the values that underpin a free nation and the rights and dignity of its citizens.

Any normalization of the relationship with China needs to be conditional on my father’s immediate release and his return to the United Kingdom.

Your father’s life story in many ways embodies Hong Kong’s ‘never-give-up’ attitude. Do you think Hong Kong journalists and pro-democracy activists will keep on fighting? What is your message to Beijing and the Hong Kong government?

I think most of the world shares his spirit. Hong Kong is unique because it’s a city of refugees. It’s a city where we were given many of the freedoms of the free world. And as a result, it flourished. We knew what we had and what we escaped from.

My message is to release my father immediately. A Hong Kong that has 1,900 political prisoners for democracy campaigning, is a Hong Kong that has no rule of law, no free press, one that disregards the welfare of its citizens. This is not a Hong Kong that will flourish.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Beh Lih Yi.

“This show trial must end before it is too late,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg on Monday. “The case of Jimmy Lai is not an outlier, it’s a symptom of Hong Kong’s democratic decline. Hong Kong’s treatment of Jimmy Lai — and more broadly of independent media and journalists — shows that this administration is no longer interested in even a semblance of democratic norms.”

Lai, the founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has spent nearly four years in a maximum-security prison and solitary confinement since December 2020. He has faced multiple postponements to his trial, in which he has been charged with sedition and conspiring to collude with foreign forces.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told parliament in October that the case of Lai, who is a British citizen, was a “priority” and called for his release. Similarly, United Nations experts in January urged Hong Kong authorities to drop all charges against the publisher and free him.

The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Lai is unlawfully and arbitrarily detained in Hong Kong, expressed alarm over his prolonged solitary confinement, and called for immediate remedy. Lai suffers from a long-standing health issue of diabetes.

Lai won a press freedom award from CPJ and the organization continues to advocate for his freedom.

Responding to CPJ’s request for comment, a Hong Kong government spokesperson referred to a November 17 statement in which it said that Lai was “receiving appropriate treatment and care in prison” and that Hong Kong authorities “strongly deplore any form of interference.”

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

The letter said Neuberger’s role in the Hong Kong ruling, as a non-permanent overseas judge on Hong Kong’s top court, contradicts his previous efforts in advocating free speech and press freedom. Neuberger’s continued involvement would be, in effect, “sponsoring a systematic repression of human rights against peaceful activists and journalists in the city.”

Neuberger, a former head of Britain’s Supreme Court, resigned as chair of an advisory panel to the Media Freedom Coalition on August 14, two days after the conviction of Lai and six pro-democracy campaigners was upheld. Lai has been behind bars since December 2020.

The MFC is a group of 50 countries that pledge to promote press freedom at home and abroad. CPJ is a longstanding member of the MFC’s consultative network of nongovernmental organizations.

Read the joint statement here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Lai's international legal team at London's Doughty Street Chambers lodged the appeal with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment over the treatment of Andy Li, among a group of 12 Hong Kong protesters captured by China's Coast Guard as they tried to flee to democratic Taiwan by speedboat.

"Credible evidence is emerging that Andy Li was tortured when in prison in China before confessing to allegedly conspiring with Jimmy Lai to collude with foreign entities to endanger national security," Lai's lawyers said in a statement on Jan. 4.

"Andy Li’s evidence against Jimmy Lai – which it is suspected was coerced and obtained after he endured torture, inhuman and degrading treatment in Chinese detention, with the knowledge of the Hong Kong authorities – is central to the prosecution’s case," it said.

Defense team leader and Kings Counsel Caoilfhionn Gallagher said there are grave concerns that Li's testimony against Lai was "coerced," and that his legal team are arguing that it should be discarded.

"International law prohibits reliance on evidence derived through torture, inhuman or degrading treatment," she said. "Such statements are involuntary, inherently unreliable, violate the right to a fair trial, and reliance upon them indirectly legitimises torture and taints the justice system."

Prosecutors at Lai's ongoing trial appear to be relying on Andy Li's testimony as a key plank in the case against Lai, Gallagher said.

"The Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have so far failed to investigate these concerns, and in any event how could they credibly mark their own homework?" she said. "They must now answer to the United Nations."

‘Collusion with foreign forces’

Replying on Friday to requests for comment from Reuters and the Chinese-language Ming Pao newspaper, a Hong Kong government spokesman said it "strongly condemns and firmly opposes" the initiative by Lai's legal team, which it said was designed "to abuse the United Nations mechanisms to interfere with the judicial proceedings".

Amnesty International listed Li and the other speedboat fugitives as being at "imminent risk of torture and other ill-treatment" after their arrest on Aug. 23, 2020, after which they were held in incommunicado detention.

Following his handover to authorities in Hong Kong, Li pleaded guilty to charges of "collusion with foreign forces" alongside Lai in August 2021, after being accused of "conspiring" with Lai's aide Mark Simon and activist Finn Lau, now in exile, to ask foreign governments to impose sanctions on Hong Kong.

In May 2021, Li's family raised concerns that he was being secretly held in the maximum security Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre following his return to Hong Kong from Chinese custody. The center has a history of alleged abuses against inmates, according to media reports at the time.

Meanwhile, the London-based rights group Hong Kong Watch called on the British government to impose sanctions on Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee, in connection with the naming of its members as "collaborators" or "co-conspirators" in Lai's national security trial.

Hong Kong Watch’s co-founder and Chief Executive Benedict Rogers, the Executive Director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, or IPAC, Luke de Pulford, and Bill Browder, a financier and human rights campaigner who pioneered the introduction of Magnitsky sanctions worldwide – all British nationals – were among those named.

In a letter for Foreign Secretary David Cameron, the six Hong Kong Watch Patrons called Magnitsky-style sanctions on Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee, including asset freezes and a travel ban. 

"John Lee has been, and continues to be, involved in activities which amount to a serious violation of the right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment," the letter said, pointing to Lee's involvement in the transnational repression of prominent Hong Kong activists in exile.

Edited by Luisetta Mudie and Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Amelia Loi for RFA Mandarin.

Lai turned up at West Kowloon Magistrates Court on Friday for the third day of his trial wearing a light green sweatshirt and a dark blue jacket, nodding to family and friends from the dock.

But a bid by defense attorney Robert Pang to get the sedition charge dismissed because the prosecution had failed to lay the charge within a six-month window was rejected by the panel of handpicked national security judges and no jury.

Judge Esther Toh said the sedition charge was laid at the West Kowloon Magistrates court on Dec. 14, 2021, 10 days before the time limit would have expired.

Pang had argued that the prosecution accused Lai of committing the offenses for the first time on April 1, 2019, accusing them of eventually changing the sedition charge to add the word "conspiracy," so as to get around the time limit.

Lai's long-awaited trial on two counts of "conspiracy to collude with foreign forces," one count of "collusion with foreign forces" under a draconian national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, and one of "conspiracy to publish, sell, offer for sale, distribute, display or reproduce seditious publications" under a colonial-era law, got under way on Monday following nearly three years of pretrial detention.

Much of the prosecution's evidence centers on opinion articles published in Lai's now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper. Three former Apple Daily companies are co-defendants.

Decimating freedoms

Beijing imposed the law – which criminalizes public criticism of the authorities – as part of a crackdown on massive pro-democracy protests in 2019, insisting that the move was necessary to quell unrest. Lai has been an outspoken supporter of the pro-democracy movement, and several editors at his former paper are also awaiting sentencing for calling for international sanctions in columns and opinion pieces.

The law, which applies to speech and actions anywhere in the world, criminalizes several broadly defined offenses including secession, subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist activities, all of which carry maximum penalties of life imprisonment. The law has been widely criticized by rights groups and governments for decimating the city's promised rights and freedoms under Chinese rule. Hong Kong’s ranking in the major global rights indices has plummeted.

The case was adjourned to Jan. 2 next year, when the prosecution is expected to begin its opening statements.

The ruling came after the city's High Court rejected an application from Tiananmen vigil organizer and national security detainee Chow Hang-tung for bail.

Judge Andrew Chan denied bail despite Chow's defense lawyer's argument that the now-shuttered Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China – which organized the now-banned annual vigils for victims of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre – had been active for more than 30 years without endangering China, and that Chow was unlikely to represent much of a threat if released on bail.

Chan also told the court that Chow's trial on charges of "inciting subversion" would likely be scheduled for mid-2024, with a case management meeting slated for February.

Barrister Y.L. Cheung also argued that the national security law, as drafted by the standing committee of the National's People's Congress in Beijing, was only intended to target actions that "seriously endanger national security," and not the peaceful expression of ideas and opinions.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Ng Ting Hong and Gigi Lee for RFA Cantonese.

Lai, 76, who has been detained since December 2020, arrived in court at 10 a.m., amid tight security on charges of conspiring with foreign forces in violation of the National Security Law, or NSL, that China imposed on the city in June 2020.

Beijing introduced the NSL in response to massive pro-democracy protests, insisting that the law was necessary to quell unrest. The law criminalizes several broadly defined offenses including secession, subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist activities.

A year after it was imposed, Amnesty International said the law had “decimated” the city’s rights and freedoms.

One of the most outspoken critics of China, Lai, the publisher of the now-defunct Apple Daily, was initially detained in August 2020 during a police raid on the newspaper’s officers.

Lai was often at the frontline of pro-democracy protests, such as the Umbrella Movement in 2014 and demonstrations against an extradition bill in 2019. 

The trial before three national security judges, without a jury, at the city’s High Court is expected to last 80 days. It was scheduled to commence a year ago but postponed subsequent to the government’s objection to the selection of defense counsel Timothy Owen, a barrister based in the U.K., and its pursuit of intervention from Beijing. 

Lai and the Apple Daily are also both subject to accusations under a British colonial-era sedition law. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

Lai’s case has caused an international uproar and is widely regarded as a test of the city’s judicial independence.

Late Sunday, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he was “gravely concerned” about the trial, calling for the immediate release of Lai, a British citizen.

“As a prominent and outspoken journalist and publisher, Jimmy Lai has been targeted in a clear attempt to stop the peaceful exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and association,” Cameron said in a statement, adding that the security law was in breach of the commitments China made to Hong Kong when it resumed sovereignty over the territory in 1997.

The 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration included a promise to retain Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms for 50 years after it was returned to China’s rule.

“I urge the Chinese authorities to repeal the National Security Law and end the prosecution of all individuals charged under it,” Cameron said. 

“I call on the Hong Kong authorities to end their prosecution and release Jimmy Lai.”

Separately, the United States called for Lai’s immediate release and condemned the prosecution.

“Lai has been held in pre-trial detention for more than 1,000 days, and Hong Kong and Beijing authorities have denied him his choice of legal representation,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. “We call on Hong Kong authorities to immediately release Jimmy Lai and all others imprisoned for defending their rights.”

Ahead of the trial, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists also released a statement, calling for the city to release Lai, while Human Rights Watch condemned the trial as a “travesty.”

Edited by Mike Firn.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Taejun Kang for RFA.

Lai, a British citizen and founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has been behind bars since December 2020 and is due to be tried on charges of foreign collusion under the national security law – imposed by Beijing three years ago – that has been used to stifle free speech and crush dissent in the city, once a bastion of press freedom in Asia.

“The trial is a travesty of justice. It may be Jimmy Lai who is in the dock, but it is press freedom and the rule of law that are on trial in Hong Kong,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, on Friday. “The government is pulling out all the stops to keep Lai behind bars. This is a dark stain on Hong Kong’s rule of law and is doing a disservice to the government’s efforts to restore investor confidence.”

The start of the trial has been postponed multiple times, and it will be held without a jury. The Hong Kong government has prevented Lai’s choice of counsel, British lawyer Timothy Owen, from representing him and a court in May upheld the decision.

Lai is currently serving a prison sentence of five years and nine months on fraud charges related to a lease dispute.

Lai received CPJ’s Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award in 2021 in recognition of his extraordinary and sustained commitment to press freedom.

China ranked as the world’s second-worst jailer of journalists in CPJ’s 2022 prison census, which documented those imprisoned on December 1, 2022, with at least 43 journalists behind bars.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director.

Caoilfhionn Gallagher of Doughty Street Chambers, a law firm with a focus on international human rights, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Lai’s lawyers are regularly targeted by Hong Kong authorities, Chinese state media and anonymous internet users.

Gallagher said the coordinated campaign of abuse was heightened whenever she or Lai’s son, Sebastien, were set to speak at high-profile events, with upticks, in particular, of threatening online messages.

“They come thick and fast on key days for the case,” she told the committee. “I woke up this morning to 17 different rape and death threats on a day when I’m giving evidence before this committee.”

Lai is the founder of clothing brand Giordano and pro-democracy Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily. He was arrested in 2020 and charged with violating Hong Kong’s national security law, and was then hit with a slew of extra charges, including fraud and illegal demonstration.

He was sentenced last year to five years and nine months in prison after being convicted of fraud, but is still awaiting trial for the original charges of violating the controversial national security law.

‘Comprehensive and sophisticated’

Gallagher said the online threats were only part of the transnational repression faced by Lai’s support team, noting her team was frequently accused in Chinese state media of being “foreign agents” themselves committing crimes under Hong Kong’s national security law.

“Importantly, none of us are Hong Kongers. None of us are in exile. None of us are dissidents,” Gallagher said, adding Lai was also accused of violating the law by employing foreign lawyers.

It had already been made clear to Sebastien that he would face criminal charges, like his father, if he ever returned to Hong Kong, she said. But the threats against the lawyers made even less sense.

“We are international lawyers working for our clients, seeking to hold China and Hong Kong to account for flagrant violations of generalized and fundamental rights protected by international law,” Gallagher said.

“The campaign by China/Hong Kong to silence dissent and critical voices and to shut down international scrutiny of their actions is comprehensive and sophisticated,” she said. “It extends to anyone, anywhere in the world who dares to question their narrative.”

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, a Democrat from Maryland, replied that the testimony was “chilling information” that demonstrated autocracies like China were trying to export their repression into the world’s free societies.

“It really does present a damning situation where transnational repression is really eating at the core of our own democracy, because many of the victims are being persecuted because of participating here in the United States in our open society,” Cardin said. 

“That is a direct attack on our system of government and it compromises our ability to get objective information,” he said.

Transnational repression

Freedom House President Michael Abramovitz told the committee he believed China was the “world leader” in transnational repression. 

Abramovitz’s organization on Wednesday released a report detailing 112 incidents of transnational repression committed against journalists by 26 governments since 2014. But he said China led the way.

“They conduct the most sophisticated, global and comprehensive transnational repression in the world,” Abramovitz said, explaining that Beijing targeted “ethnic and religious minorities, political dissidents, human rights activists, journalists and former insiders.”

“It's a full range of tactics, from direct attacks like kidnapping dissidents, co-opting other countries to detain their dissidents, and also, in the case of the Uyghurs,” he said, “threatening their families to get their family members living in the free world to basically shut up.”

Abramovitz said he believed it was near impossible to conjure tactics to discourage Beijing from pursuing such global tactics.

“It's very difficult to influence China directly,” he said.

But he pointed to China’s efforts to “co-opt international fora like the [U.N.] Human Rights Council in Geneva” to help silence its advocacy, too, as something the United States should work to “combat.”

The committee was also told about the potential ways in which exiled Chinese political dissidents could one day be targeted for reprisals.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Republican from New Hampshire, said she was concerned that the “extensive collection of DNA” of people in China would make it harder for dissidents to escape into safety.

Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian investigative journalist who co-founded the Bellingcat news outlet, replied that a comprehensive database would allow Beijing to eliminate the ability of foreign governments to “offer protection with the usual, traditional methods of witness protection.”

“The one biometric that you cannot change is DNA,” he said. “You can change the face, you can change fingerprints, but you cannot change DNA. So theoretically, the Chinese government could use that to verify the identity of their enemies even after they've received protection.”

Edited by Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Alex Willemyns for RFA.

On Tuesday, 75-year-old Lai will have been behind bars in Hong Kong for 1,000 days. The release of Lai, who is facing charges that could lead to life imprisonment, is a fundamental step to safeguard press freedom in Hong Kong, the groups said.

Read the full letter below.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

"Hong Kong is a litmus test for how China views the world," Sebastien Lai told journalists during a visit to Washington. "If they aren't willing to respect those freedoms in Hong Kong, then the long arm of China is basically everywhere."

"If they're not willing to do that in Hong Kong, with all the economic benefits that come with, they're not willing to do that in the U.S., in the U.K., in Ireland,” he said.

“You see that with the secret police stations," Lai said. "It really shows how they view cooperation with another state; it doesn't seem like they want friendly cooperation with democratic countries."

Jimmy Lai's Next Digital media empire and its flagship Apple Daily newspaper were forced to close amid a national security investigation, and he is still awaiting trial on charges of "collusion with a foreign power" and others linked to "seditious publications," as the authorities move to disqualify his British barrister.

International press freedom groups say the ruling Communist Party under supreme leader Xi Jinping has "gutted" press freedom in the formerly freewheeling city amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent in the wake of the 2019 protest movement.

Hong Kong journalists who fled the city after Beijing imposed a national security law from July 1, 2020, continue to campaign for press freedom for the city from overseas, but say they are constantly targeted for transnational repression by agents and supporters of the Chinese state, including secret Chinese police stations in a number of countries.

‘Shine a light’

Lai told RFA Cantonese that he intends to keep speaking out to "shine a light" on the unfolding crackdown on freedom of speech that saw the jailing of his father and the closure of his flagship Apple Daily newspaper following raids by the national security police.

"What I want to achieve is for the world to see that both my father and all these other political prisoners are standing trial right now," he said.

"The Hong Kong government keeps claiming that there is still freedom of the press and rule of law with all of its "Hello Hong Kong" propaganda, which is pretty despicable, because that's pretty clearly not the case," Lai said. "They're saying one thing, while doing another, so the world needs to know this."

He also warned any investors or companies looking to invest or expand operations in Hong Kong to look at the national security investigation of the Apple Daily as a cautionary tale.

"The Apple Daily headquarters was over five floors. At its peak, we had a newsroom of over 900 people," Lai said, adding: "They raided it twice. The first time, they sent 200 people there."

"Basically, 200 police rushed in, grabbed laptops, and made sure that nobody could work, nobody could touch any devices. The second time [they sent] 500 people," he said. 

"So, if you want to know what could happen to any business in Hong Kong ... that is a very good picture to look at before you make any decisions in terms of investments."

He said the risk of charges under a national security law imposed on the city by Beijing in the wake of the 2019 mass protests against diminishing freedoms means that the cost of doing business in the city has now risen sharply.

"The ability, like in Western countries, to speak out on anything you want has been massively limited," Lai said. "It's all well and great if you're going there for a holiday or whatnot, but in terms of a financial center ... you at least need the rule of law and some semblance of free speech, and that's not the case there."

Trying to lure talent

Lai's comments came as the Hong Kong authorities try to boost investor interest in Hong Kong, seeking to attract fresh talent and visitors with new visa schemes and free plane tickets in a bid to counteract a mass exodus of middle-class and wealthy people in the wake of the national security law crackdown.

"It's just a very dark time for a financial center," Lai said. "How long can you keep being a financial center if people aren't allowed to speak up ... or if people are jailed for liking social media posts, and unfair sentences are handed out left and right?"

"My father got five years, nine months ... on a commercial charge ... the first time anybody has gone to jail for a lease violation," he said. "The fact that they used this to attack my father shows how much Hong Kong has gone down as a place to do business, as a place to live, as a place to work."

Lai, who is a British national like his father, said the United States had been much tougher on China than Britain.

"The U.K. government has been incredibly weak,” he said in comments reported by Reuters as Britain's Minister for Investment Dominic Johnson said he held a series of meetings with government officials and executives in Hong Kong this week. 

"It's very sad to see a democratic government being afraid – or asking permission even – to speak on behalf of one of its citizens that is in prison for freedom of speech."

U.S. Congressman Mike Gallagher, chair of the House of Representatives select committee on China’s Communist Party, meanwhile hit out at the Vatican for not standing up for Jimmy Lai, who, like him, is a Catholic.

"The silence from the Vatican on China’s human rights abuses and Jimmy’s case, in particular, is deafening," Reuters quoted him as saying, adding that the Vatican's Washington embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Hoi Man Wu for RFA Cantonese.

"Hong Kong is a litmus test for how China views the world," Sebastien Lai told journalists during a visit to Washington. "If they aren't willing to respect those freedoms in Hong Kong, then the long arm of China is basically everywhere."

"If they're not willing to do that in Hong Kong, with all the economic benefits that come with, they're not willing to do that in the U.S., in the U.K., in Ireland,” he said.

“You see that with the secret police stations," Lai said. "It really shows how they view cooperation with another state; it doesn't seem like they want friendly cooperation with democratic countries."

Jimmy Lai's Next Digital media empire and its flagship Apple Daily newspaper were forced to close amid a national security investigation, and he is still awaiting trial on charges of "collusion with a foreign power" and others linked to "seditious publications," as the authorities move to disqualify his British barrister.

International press freedom groups say the ruling Communist Party under supreme leader Xi Jinping has "gutted" press freedom in the formerly freewheeling city amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent in the wake of the 2019 protest movement.

Hong Kong journalists who fled the city after Beijing imposed a national security law from July 1, 2020, continue to campaign for press freedom for the city from overseas, but say they are constantly targeted for transnational repression by agents and supporters of the Chinese state, including secret Chinese police stations in a number of countries.

‘Shine a light’

Lai told RFA Cantonese that he intends to keep speaking out to "shine a light" on the unfolding crackdown on freedom of speech that saw the jailing of his father and the closure of his flagship Apple Daily newspaper following raids by the national security police.

"What I want to achieve is for the world to see that both my father and all these other political prisoners are standing trial right now," he said.

"The Hong Kong government keeps claiming that there is still freedom of the press and rule of law with all of its "Hello Hong Kong" propaganda, which is pretty despicable, because that's pretty clearly not the case," Lai said. "They're saying one thing, while doing another, so the world needs to know this."

He also warned any investors or companies looking to invest or expand operations in Hong Kong to look at the national security investigation of the Apple Daily as a cautionary tale.

"The Apple Daily headquarters was over five floors. At its peak, we had a newsroom of over 900 people," Lai said, adding: "They raided it twice. The first time, they sent 200 people there."

"Basically, 200 police rushed in, grabbed laptops, and made sure that nobody could work, nobody could touch any devices. The second time [they sent] 500 people," he said. 

"So, if you want to know what could happen to any business in Hong Kong ... that is a very good picture to look at before you make any decisions in terms of investments."

He said the risk of charges under a national security law imposed on the city by Beijing in the wake of the 2019 mass protests against diminishing freedoms means that the cost of doing business in the city has now risen sharply.

"The ability, like in Western countries, to speak out on anything you want has been massively limited," Lai said. "It's all well and great if you're going there for a holiday or whatnot, but in terms of a financial center ... you at least need the rule of law and some semblance of free speech, and that's not the case there."

Trying to lure talent

Lai's comments came as the Hong Kong authorities try to boost investor interest in Hong Kong, seeking to attract fresh talent and visitors with new visa schemes and free plane tickets in a bid to counteract a mass exodus of middle-class and wealthy people in the wake of the national security law crackdown.

"It's just a very dark time for a financial center," Lai said. "How long can you keep being a financial center if people aren't allowed to speak up ... or if people are jailed for liking social media posts, and unfair sentences are handed out left and right?"

"My father got five years, nine months ... on a commercial charge ... the first time anybody has gone to jail for a lease violation," he said. "The fact that they used this to attack my father shows how much Hong Kong has gone down as a place to do business, as a place to live, as a place to work."

Lai, who is a British national like his father, said the United States had been much tougher on China than Britain.

"The U.K. government has been incredibly weak,” he said in comments reported by Reuters as Britain's Minister for Investment Dominic Johnson said he held a series of meetings with government officials and executives in Hong Kong this week. 

"It's very sad to see a democratic government being afraid – or asking permission even – to speak on behalf of one of its citizens that is in prison for freedom of speech."

U.S. Congressman Mike Gallagher, chair of the House of Representatives select committee on China’s Communist Party, meanwhile hit out at the Vatican for not standing up for Jimmy Lai, who, like him, is a Catholic.

"The silence from the Vatican on China’s human rights abuses and Jimmy’s case, in particular, is deafening," Reuters quoted him as saying, adding that the Vatican's Washington embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Hoi Man Wu for RFA Cantonese.

The APPG’s report urged the U.K. government to treat the case of Lai, a British citizen and founder of Hong Kong’s now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, as a political priority and to consider his detention arbitrary. The group found the U.K. government’s response to Lai’s case has been “minimal, arguably negligent.”

CPJ was among the groups that submitted evidence to the APPG inquiry.

“British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his government must heed the newly released All-Party Parliamentary Group report, which calls on them to pressure for publisher Jimmy Lai’s release,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “It is time for Sunak to say enough is enough. In five months, Lai will be tried under Hong Kong’s national security law, which could see him spend the rest of his life in jail. Will the British PM end his deafening silence?”

Lai has been behind bars since December 2020. He is serving a sentence of five years and nine months on fraud charges and is awaiting trial on national security charges, due to start in September, which could imprison him for life. 

The APPG on Hong Kong is an informal cross-party group in the U.K. Parliament, started in November 2019.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Civicus Monitor said in its annual survey of civil survey that crimes under the law are “vaguely defined and have become catch-all offenses to prosecute activists and critics with heavy penalties.”

More than 200 people have been arrested under the security law and dozens of civil society groups and trade unions have disbanded or relocated since the law came into place, the report said.

“Activists have also been criminalized for sedition, while around 3,000 protesters have been prosecuted for their participation in peaceful gatherings and protests, such as Tiananmen Square vigils which until recently were held annually,” it said. “Independent and pro-democracy media outlets have been targeted with raids and forced to close and journalists have been criminalized.”

Testimony in Geneva

The report came as witnesses testified to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva over ongoing criticisms and concerns about the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities’ treatment of jailed pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai, whose Next Digital media empire and its flagship Apple Daily newspaper were forced to close amid a national security investigation that saw several senior editors and Lai arrested for “collusion with a foreign power.”

Lai’s London-based lawyer, Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, told the council that the law has been used to “target and imprison journalists, writers, lawyers, and peaceful pro-democracy campaigners,” her law firm, Doughty Street Chambers, said in a statement on its website.

“The National Security Law (NSL) is breathtakingly broad: virtually anything could be deemed a threat to ‘national security’ under its provisions, and it can apply to anyone on the planet, even if they have never stepped foot in Hong Kong or China,” Gallagher said.

“Mr Lai has already been imprisoned for over two years for peaceful pro-democracy activities. He now faces life in prison under the NSL for his writings and for Apple Daily’s writings about the protection of democracy,” she said.

Lai’s son Sebastian called on United Nations human rights experts to call out “Hong Kong’s abuse of the law to persecute my father and his colleagues and others for exercising their rights to free speech and a free press,” according to the statement.

“It is time for the United Nations to condemn those actions, and do everything in its power to secure my father’s release, and restore hope to Hong Kong,” he said.

Criminalized for expression

Another member of Lai’s London legal team, Jennifer Robinson, said journalists working for the Apple Daily and other media outlets had faced unlawful detention and prosecution under the crackdown.

“They are being criminalized for exercising their internationally protected right to freedom of expression,” she told the council.

The International Federation of Journalists called on the Hong Kong government to drop all charges against Lai, and other journalists and media workers facing prosecution for their work.

“Journalism is not a crime,” the group said, calling on the United Nations to put pressure on Hong Kong and China over press freedom in the city.

The Hong Kong government said it strongly opposed foreign interference with judicial proceedings in national security cases.

“The government ... is firmly opposed to the acts of the so-called ‘international legal team’ for Lai Chee-ying and his son Sebastian Lai ... to scandalize the Hong Kong National Security Law and the judicial system of [Hong Kong],” it said in a statement dated March 15.

“Making a statement with the intent to interfere with or obstruct the course of justice, or engaging in conduct with the same intent, is very likely to constitute the offense of criminal contempt of court or the offense of perverting the course of justice,” it said.

‘Attempt to beleaguer China’

The Communist Party-backed English-language Global Times newspaper said “anti-China forces and countries” were using the United Nations to attack China.

“Some anti-China forces and countries are abusing the platform ... to spread disinformation about China ... in an attempt to beleaguer China by hyping human rights violation topics,” it said, citing testimony given by victims of human rights abuses from Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong.

“Are these ‘victims’ credible or just actors hired by anti-China forces to orchestrate stunts to smear China? Have their stories ... been fabricated to amplify the anti-China narrative?" the paper said in a March 15 article.

Former pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui, who is now in exile in Australia, said it was important for victims of the law to be heard internationally.

“Jimmy Lai’s case is unusual in that one of his family members came forward,” Hui said. “Breaking the international silence of victims ... is more important than the views of advocates, scholars or experts.”

“The international community is more likely to listen to what family members [of victims] say, so this is of great significance,” he said.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Matt Reed.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Chen Zifei and Jojo Man for RFA Cantonese.

Lai faces disqualification from the directorship of any company for eight years and fines of HK$ 2,000,000 (US$257,000). His assets and those of Next Digital have been frozen pending his trial on a separate charge under Hong Kong’s national security law, which forced the company to shut down in June 2021.

His sentence, which will likely be added to any future jail term under the national security law, was condemned by two press freedom groups as further proof of the ruling Chinese Communist Party's clampdown on the city's once-free media.

"Illegal demonstration, fraud, national security crimes -- the diversity of the charges held against Jimmy Lai, and the staggering severity of the sentences imposed on him, show how desperate the Chinese regime is to silence this symbolic figure of press freedom in Hong Kong," Cédric Alviani, East Asia bureau chief of the Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders, said in a statement.

Alviani called for Lai's immediate release "alongside all other journalists and press freedom defenders detained in Hong Kong and in [mainland China]."

The International Federation of Journalists echoed Alviani's comments, and called on the international community to "condemn the destruction of independent media in Hong Kong and to support journalists and media workers fleeing from an increasingly perilous working environment."

‘Waste of money’

Lai's sentencing comes as Hong Kong's government under Chief Executive John Lee seeks to relaunch the city as a viable place for global corporations to do business, with Lee launching various talent recruitment and business partnership drives since being selected as the city's leader in an unopposed "election" in May.

He told journalists at the APEC summit in Thailand last month that Hong Kong's new system of Beijing-backed governance "mean[s] extra opportunities for enterprises all around the world."

Lee also wants to relaunch Hong Kong as an IT hub and a regional center for culture and the arts, he said on Nov. 20.

But Herbert Chow, CEO of pro-democracy children's clothing and lifestyle brand Chickeeduck, said Lai's sentence would have likely have a further chilling effect on the rest of the business community in Hong Kong.

"Hong Kong is rapidly losing its advantage” as a destination for investors, said Chow, whose clothing chain is also shutting down following an investigation by the national security police. 

"The government claims that Hong Kong is a world city, but when you look at the cases against Jimmy Lai, Shanghai looks like a better bet,” he said.

"If you can't say anything anyway, then you might as well locate [your office] in mainland China,” Chow said. “Using Hong Kong as a jumping-off point to the mainland is a waste of money, because rents are much more expensive than in mainland China."

Condemned by U.S.

Political risk management consultant Ross Feingold said multinational corporations and foreign business executives will also be weighing their personal and corporate legal risk under the national security law in Hong Kong, and likely reassessing it as a location.

Feingold said there is likely to be a high degree of concern over the sentencing of Jimmy Lai, which was also condemned on Saturday by U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

"The United States condemns the grossly unjust outcome of Jimmy Lai’s latest trial sentencing," Price said via Twitter. "By any objective measure, this result is neither fair nor just."

"We once again call on [the Chinese] authorities to respect freedom of expression, including for the press, in Hong Kong," he said.

British lawmaker Alicia Kearns, who chairs the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, also hit out at Lai's sentence.

"Newspaper owner Jimmy Lai sentenced to 5 years and 9 months for fraud in a political witch trial to hunt down dissent from the CCP regime," Kearns tweeted, in a reference to the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

"Jimmy is a British citizen and must receive vocal support from [the British government]," she wrote.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson in Hong Kong said the U.S. was interfering in Hong Kong's internal affairs.

"We urge external forces to refrain from interfering in the judiciary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and in any other Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs under the pretext of human rights," the spokesperson said in remarks posted to the official website of the ministry's Hong Kong office.

Describing Lai as "an anti-China criminal," the spokesperson accused Washington of "supporting anti-China forces in Hong Kong."

Subletting crime

Lai was handed the jail term by District Court Judge Stanley Chan, who said the subletting arrangement with secretarial contractors Dico Consultants had violated the terms of Next Digital's lease agreement for its premises on the Tseung Kwan O industrial estate.

Chan told the court that Lai and Next Digital had concealed the fact that Lai was allowing the consultancy to operate from a 646-square-foot office in the Next Digital headquarters, and had blamed the error on the company's chief operating officer.

He said Lai, 75, had also prevented the landlord from carrying out checks on the building.

Former Next Digital executive Wong Wai-keung was handed a 21-month jail term after being convicted of the same charge, because he was taking orders from his superiors and hadn't been the "mastermind" behind the operation, the judge said.

Lai's harsh sentence comes amid an ongoing crackdown on pro-democracy media organizations, opposition politicians and peaceful critics of the authorities sparked by the imposition of a draconian national security law on Hong Kong from July 2020 in the wake of the 2019 protest movement.

Lai is still awaiting trial under that law, on charges of "collusion with a foreign power," and is currently also serving shorter jail terms for public order offenses linked to his part in peaceful protests in 2019.

More punishment coming?

There are concerns that the Chinese government may exercise its power under the national security law to hold Lai's "collusion" trial in mainland China, likely leading to a much harsher sentence than might be imposed by a Hong Kong court. 

Current affairs commentator Sang Pu, who is also a qualified lawyer, said nearly six years for fraud is a fairly heavy sentence.

"We're very worried that this 75-year-old could spend the rest of his life in prison, given that any further sentence under the national security law will be added to this current sentence," Sang told Radio Free Asia.

"He could wind up serving more than 10 years altogether," he said.

The charge of "collusion with a foreign power to endanger national security" carries a maximum jail term of life imprisonment in cases where the offense is deemed "serious," with a minimum jail term of 10 years.

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Cheryl Tung for RFA Cantonese.

The Court of Appeal ruled on Nov. 21 that Lai should be allowed to hire Tim Owen KC to defend him on charges relating to "seditious publications," as well as "collusion with foreign powers to endanger national security," upholding the decisions of two lower courts.

Justices Susan Kwan, Carlye Chu and Thomas Au said there was a clear case for giving Owen permission to represent Lai, and that there was no valid basis to interfere with the exercise of the judge’s discretion.

"Public perception of fairness in the trial is of vital importance to the administration of justice," the court judgment said. "It is clearly in the public interest to grant the application for admission on grounds of public perception as well as the other grounds that have been canvassed."

Lai will be tried by a panel of three national security judges approved by the government in a trial scheduled to begin on Dec. 1.

However, the government has applied to appeal once more, this time to the Court of Final Appeal, and the pro-Beijing media has given a veiled warning that Lai could face trial in a mainland Chinese court if the decision doesn't go the government's way.

The Court of Final Appeal has adjourned its decision on whether to allow the government to proceed with the appeal until Nov. 28, the Hong Kong Free Press news website reported on Friday.

Citing "many experts and scholars," the Ta Kung Pao said in its online edition that the case "involves major matters of right and wrong," warning that Beijing was unlikely to "sit idly by" on the matter.

It quoted pro-Beijing politician and lawyer Holden Chow as calling on judges to "uphold national security in accordance with the law."

"The British lawyer was hired to challenge the Hong Kong national security law with Western human rights standards, to whip up Western public opinion, and to put pressure on the Hong Kong and Chinese governments," the paper quoted Chow as saying.

"Hong Kong courts should absolutely not approve him ... to defend [Lai] in Hong Kong," Chow told the paper.

Justice secretary Paul Lam declined to comment when asked about the appeal by journalists on Wednesday.

“National Security”

Meanwhile, the pro-Beijing Wen Wei Po quoted the government's argument that it wasn't in the public interest to allow foreign nationals to defend in a case involving matters of "national security."

"Allowing overseas barristers to participate in Hong Kong cases runs counter to the legislative purpose of the Hong Kong National Security Law, which is to prevent foreign countries or external forces from interfering in Hong Kong affairs and to protect state secrets from being leaked," the paper quoted the appeal application as saying.

"Unless an application can prove that there are extremely special circumstances, the employment of overseas barristers in Hong Kong National Security Law cases should not be approved," the department of justice was quoted as saying in its argument.

The papers' weighing in on the matter comes a day before the appeal is scheduled to be heard at the Court of Final Appeal on Friday before a panel of three judges.

Current affairs commentator Sang Pu, who is also a qualified lawyer, said the papers are blatantly trying to put pressure on the Court of Final Appeal, making a mockery of the principle of judicial independence.

Denunciations

Political denunciations in Communist Party-backed media are increasingly being used to target civil society groups, journalists and NGOs in Hong Kong.

The denunciations usually focus on accusations that a given organization has done something that could be in breach of a draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the CCP from July 1, 2020, and are frequently followed by police investigations and arrests, or other actions in line with the papers' recommendations.

"This is obviously a form of intense pressure being put on the Court of Final Appeal," current affairs commentator Sang Pu told RFA. "They are trying to influence the judiciary with overwhelming public opinion and political tactics."

"It's not just about trying to sway public opinion; it's like the unofficial voice of the party-state, while all the while the leaders stay silent," he said. "It's basically the same kind of tactic as during the Cultural Revolution,” which ran from 1966 to 1976.

“This is a threat”

Sang said the papers both quoted Willy Fu of the Beijing-backed Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation as saying that the government had the right to take over jurisdiction of the case under Article 55 of the national security law, if the Court of Final Appeal upholds the decision to allow Owen to defend Lai.

Fu said the ultimate power to interpret the law rests with the National People's Congress Standing Committee in Beijing. Sang said this means Beijing could order the trial to be held in mainland China if it deems it necessary in the interest of national security.

"This is a threat, which is an obstruction of justice," Sang said. "Everyone is allowed to comment on the court's decision, but if courts are threatened with the loss of regulatory immunity for arriving at a particular judgment, then that's ... coercion."

"It has an impact on the independence and perceived fairness of the judiciary, which is pretty suspect," he said.

Lai's trial comes after six top former executives at the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper pleaded guilty to "collusion with foreign powers" earlier this week. 

The pro-democracy Apple Daily and Lai's Next Digital media company were forced to close in June 2021 after their assets were frozen during a national security police raid on its headquarters in Tseung Kwan O. 

Cheung and the other five defendants were arrested in the days and weeks that followed, while Lai is currently in prison serving sentences for fraud and "illegal assembly." 

He will plead not guilty to the charges against him. 

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Cheryl Tung for RFA Cantonese.

The Honorable John Lee
Chief Executive
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China
Chief Executive’s Office
Tamar, Hong Kong

Sent via email: ceo@ceo.gov.hk

Dear Chief Executive Lee,

We, the undersigned press freedom and human rights groups, are writing to request your leadership to cease targeted persecution against Jimmy Lai, the 74-year-old founder of Next Digital Limited and the Apple Daily newspaper, release him from jail, and immediately drop all charges against him.

On December 1, Lai will stand trial without a jury on collusion charges under the national security law. He has been behind bars for more than 22 months since December 2020 after being charged under the national security law.

Prior to your inauguration in July, you promised freedom of the press in Hong Kong would continue to be protected by the city’s Basic Law and meet the international standards of media freedom. You reiterated in a September speech at a National Day media reception that Hong Kong is governed by rule of law, and that freedom of speech and of the media are fully guaranteed under the Basic Law.

We welcomed your commitment to uphold press freedom and your remarks recognizing journalists as a force “for societal progression and the improvement of people’s lives through objective and fair reporting and commentary.”

But these promises ring hollow when Lai, one of Hong Kong’s best-known media figures, sits behind bars for his commitment to critical journalism. Such journalism is essential to your efforts in cementing Hong Kong’s role as a global financial hub, for which a free press and judicial independence are vital elements, and to comply with international legal obligations to uphold press freedom.

Lai’s imprisonment and the jailing of other Hong Kong journalists, including several executives of the now-defunct Apple Daily, have seriously undermined the confidence in the city’s judiciary and the rule of law.

Lai was first sentenced to 14 months in prison in April 2021 for “organizing and knowingly taking part in unauthorized assemblies” in August 2019. The following month, a court sentenced him to another 14 months for “organizing an unauthorized assembly” in October 2019 and ordered Lai to serve a total of 20 months’ imprisonment.

In December 2021, Lai was sentenced again to 13 months in prison for “inciting others” to take part in an unauthorized assembly in 2020.

While the judge ordered the sentence to run concurrently to the previous sentences he was serving, Lai has now been behind bars for more than 22 months, exceeding the 20-month term he was previously given.

As well as his upcoming national security trial, a court in October found Lai guilty of fraud for allegedly violating the lease of Next Digital’s headquarters, although it is clear that he was targeted in retaliation for his journalism.

Also in October, another court upheld a ruling that police could search Lai’s two mobile phones that stored journalistic information, violating the basic principles of press freedom and journalistic confidentiality.

In addition, his international legal team at Doughty Street Chambers has faced intimidation and harassment through anonymous emails, warning the lawyers against traveling to Hong Kong to defend Lai or risk facing action under the subversion law.

We welcome your pledge to enhance the confidence of the public and the international community in Hong Kong’s rule of law in your first policy address as chief executive. As the chairperson of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region that oversees the Hong Kong Police Force’s national security department, exercising your authority to drop the charges against Jimmy Lai and free him immediately is a crucial step toward regaining global confidence in Hong Kong.

Time is of the essence for your government to act and we strongly urge you to do so now.

Sincerely,

Amnesty International
ARTICLE 19
Association of Taiwan Journalists
Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation
Committee to Protect Journalists
Croatian PEN Centre
Freedom House
Human Rights Watch
Independent Chinese PEN Center
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
PEN America
PEN Club Français
PEN International
PEN Lebanon
PEN Netherlands
PEN Türkiye Center
PEN Ukraine
Peoples’ Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), India
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Swedish PEN
Taiwan Association for China Human Rights
Trieste PEN Centre
Vietnamese League for Human Rights in Switzerland

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Jennifer Dunham.

“Today’s conviction of Jimmy Lai on trumped-up fraud charges shows that Hong Kong will stop at nothing to silence one of its fiercest media critics,” said CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg in New York. “Lai is clearly being targeted for his journalism, and the persecution must stop. Hong Kong authorities should let Lai go free and drop all charges against him.”

The court convicted Lai of two counts of fraud for allegedly violating the terms of the lease of Next Digital’s headquarters. A sentence has yet to be announced, but Lai will appeal, Next Digital executive Mark Simon told CPJ via email. 

Wong Wai-keung, a Next Digital administrative director who has been awaiting trial on bail, was also convicted on the same charge.

Lai has been behind bars since December 2020 and has served a 20-month prison term for two other charges relating to his alleged involvement with unauthorized demonstrations. He is awaiting trial on national security charges, for which he faces life imprisonment; proceedings are expected to begin on December 1.

In 2021, Lai received CPJ’s Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award in recognition of his extraordinary and sustained commitment to press freedom.

China was the world’s worst jailer of journalists in 2021, according to CPJ’s December 1 prison census. It was also the first time that journalists in Hong Kong appeared on CPJ’s census.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Madeline Earp.

On Tuesday, August 30, a High Court judge ruled that police could search two phones with journalistic information owned by Lai, the imprisoned founder of the Next Digital media company and the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, according to news reports. Lai’s legal team has said they will file an appeal, and the court ruled that the search would not be conducted until 11 p.m. on September 6, while the appeal is pending, according to those reports.

“Hong Kong authorities’ pursuit of information on Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai’s phones violates basic principles of press freedom and journalistic confidentiality,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director, in New York. “Hong Kong authorities should not contest Lai’s appeal against this search, and should release him and all other Next Digital executives held in retaliation for their work.”

Lai, CPJ’s 2021 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Awardee, is being held in pretrial detention after serving a 20-month prison term for charges related to his alleged involvement in illegal demonstrations. He is awaiting trial on national security and sedition charges, according to CPJ research; if convicted on the national security charges, he could face life in prison.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.