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.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS