Tragic Injustice: Sentence of Hong Kong Media Mogul Jimmy Lai Sparks Global Condemnation

The heavy penalty handed down by a Hong Kong court to former media mogul Jimmy Lai under a Beijing-imposed national security law has drawn condemnation from governments and officials around the world, who call the move unjust and further evidence of the Chinese regime’s clampdown on the city’s dwindling freedoms.Lai, a strident critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was sentenced to 20 years in prison for two counts of “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” under the national security law, as well as a count of printing seditious materials under a colonial-era law.The ruling was delivered on Feb. 9 by three national security judges, handpicked by the city’s pro-Beijing government. Lai had denied all charges.The sentence represents the harshest punishment to date under the security law, surpassing the previous record of a 10-year jail term handed down by Hong Kong’s High Court to Benny Tai, a legal scholar and pro-democracy campaigner, in 2024.Lai, who suffers from diabetes and heart palpitations, has already been kept behind bars for five years and two months in Hong Kong. He now has 28 days to appeal the court ruling.U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on the Hong Kong authorities to grant Lai humanitarian parole.“The Hong Kong High Court’s decision to sentence Jimmy Lai to 20 years is an unjust and tragic conclusion to this case,” Rubio said in a Feb. 9 statement.“It shows the world that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, casting aside the international commitments Beijing made in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.”UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Lai, also a British national, was punished for “exercising his right to freedom of expression.”“For the 78-year-old, this is tantamount to a life sentence,” Cooper said in a statement. “I remain deeply concerned for Mr. Lai’s health, and I again call on the Hong Kong authorities to end his appalling ordeal and release him on humanitarian grounds, so that he may be reunited with his family.”Cooper said the Labor government “will rapidly engage further” on Lai’s case following the sentencing.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has confirmed that, during his recent visit to China, he raised Lai’s case directly with Chinese regime leader Xi Jinping and called for the former publisher’s release.Teresa Lai (R), wife of former media tycoon Jimmy Lai, and Cardinal Joseph Zen, retired Catholic  bishop of Hong Kong (L), arrive at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court for Jimmy Lai’s sentencing, in Hong Kong on Feb. 9, 2026. Peter Parks/AFP via Getty ImagesAs founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily, a newspaper known for its critical coverage of the CCP and local government, Lai was among the first targets of the national security law, which Beijing imposed on the former British colony in June 2020 following months of pro-democracy protests.Less than a year after the law took effect, Apple Daily ceased operation after its assets were frozen and several senior directors and editors were arrested on suspicion of violating the security law.On Feb. 9, six former Apple Daily employees also received sentences ranging from six years and nine months to 10 years.Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong called on Beijing to “cease suppression of freedoms of expression, assembly, media and civil society,” and called for the repeal of the national security law in Hong Kong.“The Australian Government is gravely concerned by the sentences handed down to Jimmy Lai and his co-defendants in Hong Kong today,” Wong said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with their family members and supporters at this difficult time.”The European Union reiterated a call for the “immediate and unconditional release” of Lai, particularly in light of his advanced age and health condition.“The politically motivated prosecution of Jimmy Lai and the former Apple Daily executives and journalists harms Hong Kong’s reputation,” the EU’s diplomatic arm, the European External Action Service, said in a statement.“The EU calls on the Hong Kong authorities to restore confidence in press freedom in Hong Kong, one of the pillars of its historic success as an international financial centre, and to stop prosecuting journalists.”A poster (bottom C), with words reading “Hong Kong add oil,” an expression meaning “keep going,” is displayed on one of the windows of the shuttered Apple Daily newspaper office in Hong Kong on Feb. 9, 2026. Yan Zhao/AFP via Getty ImagesHong Kong, ChinaHong Kong Chief Executive John Lee, in a statement, applauded Lai’s sentencing, saying that the court decision “manifests that the rule of law and justice were upheld.”China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, voiced support for Hong Kong authorities in defending national security, calling Lai’s case “an internal affair” at a regular briefing.“We urge relevant countries to respect China’s sovereignty and the rule of law in Hong Kong, [and to] refrain from making irresponsible remarks” on Hong Kong’s handling of the case, Lin told reporters in Beijing.‘Lesson’ for TaiwanJoseph Wu, Taiwan’s national security chief, said the harsh sentence imposed on Lai is further evidence of Beijing’s clamping down on dissent in what was once an icon of freedom.“It’s a lesson for #Taiwan,” Wu said on X, urging the island’s 23 million people to reject any forms of unification with communist China, including the proposal that could make Taiwan a Hong Kong-style special administrative zone of China.“It’s evil,” he said.Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, a top government body overseeing relations with Beijing, condemned the CCP and the Hong Kong government for “using national security as a pretext to suppress freedom and human rights.”“We remind Taiwanese people to take Hong Kong’s painful experience as a lesson and to safeguard our hard-earned freedoms in daily life,” the council said in a statement.“We also call on the international community to stay vigilant against the CCP’s erosion of freedom and human rights, and to stand with Taiwan in defending the democratic front line.”‘Enabled by Impunity’The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a coalition of legislators from 31 countries, including the United States and the UK, said on X that Lai’s sentence is a “tragic injustice.”“The imposition of a 20-year sentence on a 78-year-old publisher for peaceful political expression is not justice,“ the group’s 86 lawmakers said in a statement. ”It is punishment for dissent, enabled by impunity.”Jimmy Lai walks through Stanley Prison in Hong Kong on July 28, 2023. Louise Delmotte/AP PhotoThe legislators called on democratic governments to respond to Lai’s sentencing with coordinated diplomatic pressure and accountability.“Jimmy Lai’s persecution serves as irrefutable proof that Hong Kong’s legal system answers to Beijing, and must not be afforded any status to distinguish it from China,” they said.“The response of governments to this outrage will serve as a test, not only of their commitment to fundamental rights and values, but also of whether serious treaty violations should carry consequences.”