“Hong Kong's High Court found tycoon and pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai guilty on Monday of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces in the city's highest-profile trial under a China-imposed national security law that could see him jailed for life. The landmark case has drawn international scrutiny of Hong Kong's judicial independence amid a years-long crackdown on rights and freedoms in the global financial hub after 2019 pro-democracy protests that Beijing saw as a challenge to its rule.” Reuters

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Both sides condemn the verdict and urge Western countries to push for Lai’s release:

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‍“Lai is the most prominent victim but far from the only one. China enacted its nebulous national security law over Hong Kong in 2020. Since then, Beijing has used it like a sledgehammer to decimate the city’s pro-democracy movement. Former lawmakers, activists and students have been arrested. Dozens of unions and civil society groups have been forced to disband. Independent media outlets have shut down…

“In the latest sign of how mainland-style repression has remade Hong Kong, the moderate Democratic Party formally voted to disband on Sunday after three decades. It was once the largest opposition bloc in the legislature. On Dec. 7, Hong Kong held a second stage-managed vote in a so-called ‘patriots-only’ election where no opposition candidates were allowed to run. Turnout was a paltry 31.9 percent…

“President Donald Trump wants to cut a major deal with China, and he has offered President Xi Jinping a series of concessions to get there. Lai’s only hope is that Trump can secure his freedom as part of those negotiations. The great irony is that Trump may cut a deal to free someone who is imprisoned only because China reneged on another deal with a Western country.”

‍Editorial Board, Washington Post

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‍“The authorities have made their example of him: It wasn’t enough to sentence him to five years on utterly phony fraud charges in 2022; to drive their point home, they’ve also convicted him of conspiracy to publish seditious articles and similar charges under the so-called national-security law Beijing ginned up in 2020 to quash dissent…

“Lai’s true offense was running his pro-democracy Apple Daily, calling out the CCP’s abuses and betrayal of its promises to respect Hong Kong’s liberties, relentlessly crusading for the rule of law in Hong Kong. And so the show trial, with three government-lapdog judges doing as they were told…

“Whether his coming sentence is life imprisonment or ‘just’ 15 years, he’ll die in prison unless President Xi Jinping decides to let him finish his days in Britain. Lai is a UK citizen, though the British government finds itself unwilling to do more than call out his prosecution as ‘politically motivated,’ while the European Union slams it as ‘emblematic of the erosion of democracy and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong.’”

‍Editorial Board, New York Post

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‍“The more than 850-page verdict statement is essentially an account of Mr. Lai’s longtime support for democracy in Hong Kong. It includes contacts with American officials as he tried to rally support for the autonomy that China promised Hong Kong when Britain transferred power in 1997. His allegedly nefarious acts include writing an op-ed for this newspaper and knowing our editorial writers…  

“The truth is that in today’s Hong Kong a national-security violation is whatever the government says it is—same as in China… Monday’s verdict may be perverse good news in that Mr. Lai was never going to be released until the trial was over. Dictatorships need to pretend that the innocent are guilty, and then broadcast the phony verdict to the public through their propaganda channels. Maybe now the attempts to free Mr. Lai, who is in ill health, will get serious.”

‍Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal

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‍“[The US] is directly implicated in the case. The 800-page verdict by three judges selected by China’s satrapy in Hong Kong said that Lai had extended a ‘constant invitation’ to the U.S. government to bring down the Chinese government… The conviction of Lai under the national security law that Red China imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 is a sham. President Donald Trump should work to reverse this verdict through diplomatic channels, and next time he meets China’s dictator Xi Jinping.”

‍Mike Gonzalez, Daily Signal

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‍“It seems unlikely that either [UK Prime Minister Keir] Starmer or Trump, both of whom are expected to visit Beijing in 2026, will be inclined to blow up [the] relationship for the sake of Lai. Presumably, the UK’s diplomatic focus will now shift to petitioning Beijing to release Lai on medical grounds, which would certainly be a valuable outcome. But this ought not to be confused with standing up to a country that has detained and convicted a British citizen in what amounts to a show trial for exercising the rights that were meant to be protected in a treaty with the British government.”

‍Katie Stallard, New Statesman

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‍“Mr. Trump said on the presidential campaign trail last year that it would be ‘easy’ to free Mr. Lai. Mr. Trump should deliver on that boast by leveraging the global groundswell in Mr. Lai’s favor and the recent reduction of American tensions with China after Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi agreed to pause their trade war. Mr. Xi is the most hard-line Chinese leader in decades, but there is reason to think that an intensified pressure campaign could work…

“China is keen to restore Hong Kong’s image as a leading financial center governed by the rule of law, a reputation tarnished by the national security legislation and the wider assault on basic freedoms… Starmer is planning a state visit to China, possibly as early as next month, and Mr. Trump has said he’ll visit in April. China has every reason to want those meetings with important trade partners to go smoothly at a time when its economy faces significant challenges. Western leaders should use that leverage.”

‍Mark L. Clifford, New York Times