Jimmy Lai verdict shows Hong Kong's rule of law tolerates no foreign meddling: China Daily editorial

The High Court in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region meted out penalties on Monday to former media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and his accomplices for what was determined to be "serious and grave criminal conduct".

Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his criminal endeavors, specifically for lobbying for foreign sanctions on China (including the HKSAR) and for inciting hatred toward the central and HKSAR governments. These criminal endeavors continued even after the implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in June 2020. It was under this law that Lai and his cohorts were convicted.

Nonetheless, Lai's trial was accompanied by reckless attacks and smears from external actors against the authorities. Some Western figures and organizations have desperately attempted to manipulate public opinion under the guise of "press freedom" and exerted undue pressure on the Hong Kong judiciary with the aim of securing Lai's release without trial.

In whitewashing Lai's criminal acts, Western apologists have resorted to slogan-chanting, turning a blind eye to the irrefutable evidence presented in court by both the prosecution and Lai's accomplices who pleaded guilty and testified against him.

These Western supporters of Lai mention nothing about the transparent legal proceedings of the trial, which was open to the public and attended by foreign consular officials and journalists. Nor do they mention the court's written judgment, spanning 855 pages and fully accessible to the public, which details the analysis of relevant legal principles and evidence that proved Lai's criminality beyond any doubt.

The court found that Lai's intention and actions to subvert China's political system, at the expense of the interests of the Chinese people and the HKSAR, were consistent before and after the implementation of the National Security Law. Indeed, Lai had even gone so far as to call for the United States to use nuclear weapons against the Chinese mainland.

The judgment, handed down in December 2025, specifically pointed out that Lai had used the media platforms he controlled to incite hatred toward the central and HKSAR governments. These systematically plotted and executed actions went far beyond the scope of press freedom under any definition.

But as early as when the investigation into his activities was announced, Lai was predetermined to be innocent by his Western apologists, no matter what the evidence proved to the contrary. Misguided arrogance has led them to believe that Hong Kong, a jurisdiction with robust rule-of-law — as attested to by the SAR's consistent high rankings in the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index — would be subservient to foreign pressure and intimidation.

The subversive activities and campaigns, masterminded and orchestrated by Lai over the years, played into the hands of China-hostile Western politicians in their geopolitical game against Beijing. And Lai became a key pawn in Hong Kong of China hawks who found great value in sustaining his criminal activities in the SAR. It should come as no surprise then that his "supporters" in the West should be trying to wring the very last drop of value they can from him. Those Western mainstream media outlets ruthlessly denigrating Hong Kong's security law and attacking the prosecution of Lai are either playing as sidekicks in this geopolitical game or simply driven by their own ideological prejudice.

But all their political propaganda tactics are futile. They cannot alter the facts of the case. Lai's guilt was proved beyond any doubt in the High Court; and those attempting to whitewash his crimes are dashing their credibility against the irrefutable details of the court judgment.