The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday expressed “deep regret” over the conviction of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英) under the territory’s National Security Law, while condemning the Hong Kong government for using the law to “politically persecute pro-democracy figures.”
Taiwan and the international community are “deeply saddened and disappointed” by the Hong Kong High Court’s conviction of Lai, the council said in a news release.
The MAC “strongly condemns the Hong Kong government for using the malicious National Security Law to curb freedom of speech and press freedom, and to politically persecute pro-democracy figures,” it added.
Photo: AP
A long-time China critic, Lai founded the Apple Daily in 1995 and later launched a sister publication in Taiwan in 2003.
The daily was forced to close in June 2021 after Hong Kong authorities froze its assets and arrested senior staff, while the Taiwan edition ended its operation in August 2022 amid organizational challenges.
Yesterday’s ruling was “tantamount to declaring to the world” that Hong Kong’s freedom, democracy and judicial independence have been “gradually eroded,” the MAC said.
It urged Beijing and the Hong Kong authorities to immediately release Lai, and stop persecuting him and suppressing pro-democracy advocates.
The Hong Kong High Court found Lai guilty on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under Hong Kong’s National Security Law, and one count of conspiracy to publish seditious materials under the Crimes Ordinance, a colonial-era law.
According to a summary of the case provided by the court, the prosecution alleged that Lai used the Apple Daily as a platform to publish “seditious articles” and to press foreign countries to impose sanctions, blockades or other hostile actions against China and Hong Kong.
The summary said the 78-year-old, in his defense, denied any conspiracy, arguing that the articles cited were not seditious, and saying he and the Apple Daily stopped calling on foreign countries to impose sanctions or take other hostile actions after the National Security Law took effect.
The reasons for the verdict were accompanied by an annex containing a chart presented by the prosecution that listed Lai’s “external political connections,” including former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) alongside other political figures such as US President Donald Trump and former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Lai is to be sentenced at a later date, with a mitigation hearing scheduled for Jan. 12 next year.
The collusion offense carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
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