Jimmy Lai's punishment justified

On May 14, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Security Bureau legally froze Jimmy Lai Chi-ying's shares of Next Digital as well as his bank assets. Hours before that, Apple Daily in Taiwan announced it was suspending printing its edition from May 18.

Lai deserves that penalty for his illegal deeds. As a leading figure against Hong Kong's interests, Lai has appeared in almost every incident that involved social unrest in the past decade. From the illegal "Occupy Central” movement in 2014 to the riots in 2019, then to the illegally organized “primary election" in 2020, Lai could be seen as an organizer behind almost each of these incidents.

Next Digital and Apple Daily served as his tools to hide his illegal acts. Especially, under the cover of "media group boss", Lai acted as a protective umbrella of the rioters in Hong Kong and helped many of them flee.

It is an open secret in Hong Kong that Lai is the biggest funder behind rioters and their organizations, while his Next Digital and Apple Daily have long become a source of chaos.

It is just and in accordance with the HKSAR National Security Law that Lai's funds have been frozen. According to Clause 43 of the law, the police have the power to freeze the properties and funds associated with crimes that violate national security; Lai faces charges of violating national security and he deserves that.

Certain Western media outlets are spreading non-existent panic when they link the penalties to Lai with the security of foreign invest in Hong Kong. The two things have nothing in common at all; The HKSAR government protects the legal rights and interests of all investors, be they foreign or local; It is common practice of all modern states to freeze the assets of suspects for probe, something the US also often does.

It's time for certain Western media outlets to stop pointing accusing fingers at China for a legal move that every modern state takes.