On Monday, December 15, 2025, pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai was found guilty of colluding with foreign forces and sedition under Beijing’s National Security Law (LSN) for publishing subversive material.
The verdict, handed down by three Hong Kong Supreme Court judges, could sentence Lai to life in prison. The 78-year-old defendant has been in prison for five years and previously pleaded not guilty to all charges. Another hearing is scheduled for January 12th. His lawyer confirmed that Lai would decide after the verdict whether to appeal or not.
Why was Jimmy Lai convicted?
At the pre-sentence hearing, Judge Toh noted that the written judgment runs to 855 pages and read some fragments: “Even before the launch of the LNS… (Lai) tried to use the United States to counter China,” the judge read, quoting messages between Lai and his assistant Mark Simon on the WhatsApp application.
According to these messages, Simon arranged meetings between Lai and American officials. Lai, founder of the tabloid AppleDailywas also found guilty of using the newspaper to publish “seditious material.” During the 2019 democracy protests in Hong Kong AppleDaily It was an important source of news for local and international audiences.
What does the verdict mean?
Lai was first arrested in 2020, the same year that Beijing enacted the national security law in Hong Kong to strengthen its control over the former British colony, despite its commitment to granting it a high degree of autonomy before its handover by the United Kingdom in 1997.
Lai’s trial began in December 2023 and lasted 156 days of trial. “The long verdict says nothing about its quality,” Eric Lai, senior researcher at the Georgetown Asian Law Center (GCAL), told DW.
Both Hong Kong and Beijing authorities reject growing criticism of the erosion of the city’s judicial independence. Steve Li, chief commissioner of the Hong Kong police’s National Security Division, said: “Lai’s sentence is justice.”
However, Eric Lai, legal expert at GCAL, emphasizes that the approach in the Jimmy Lai case is “a common tactic of authoritarian governments.” Already in 2022, Lai was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison on various fraud charges. The strategy is to “demoralize political dissidents with common crimes and then punish them for serious security crimes and incriminate them as enemies of the state,” explains Eric Lai.
Press freedom in Hong Kong is at risk
The Jimmy Lai case is considered the first trial for the crime of conspiracy and collusion with foreign forces since the LSN came into force in Hong Kong.
This highlights the erosion of press freedom in the city, experts warn. Eric Lai of GCAL emphasizes that the latest ruling indicates that “the giving and dissemination of critical and harsh opinions as well as the exchange of information with foreign actors” are classified as criminal offenses.
Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, believes the ruling will have an “even more negative impact” on press freedom in Hong Kong.
“Since the passage of the national security law, Hong Kong has evolved from a bastion of press freedom in Asia to a place where journalists face harassment and imprisonment,” he told DW, adding that “many journalists have been forced into exile and some have been imprisoned.” Since 2020, 14 media companies have closed in Hong Kong, including Stand news and the AppleDaily by Jimmy Lai, while those still in the industry are more cautious with their reporting.
More international support
Several international human rights groups have strongly criticized Lai’s conviction. “The governments involved should at least push for the release of Jimmy Lai on humanitarian grounds. He is a 78-year-old man who has already spent five years in solitary confinement,” emphasizes Pearson.
The British government has expressed concern over the verdict against Lai, a British citizen. He also condemned the verdict as “politically motivated persecution” and called for the LSN to be repealed.
“It is time to put words aside and make my father’s release a prerequisite for closer relations with China,” Sébastien Lai said at a news conference in London.
Donald Trump raised Lai’s case in an October 2025 meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and promised to “do everything possible” to secure his release.
Meanwhile, China’s Foreign Ministry has urged other countries “not to make irresponsible comments on the Hong Kong judicial process and not to interfere in any way in Hong Kong’s judiciary or China’s internal affairs.”
Eric Lai of GCAL says: “It may be too early to judge whether external pressures are beneficial or counterproductive.” Since the media mogul has the right to appeal both his conviction and sentence for now, “only time will tell how the litigation will play out.”
DW correspondent Chia-Chun Yeh contributed to this article.
(rmr/ms)
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