‘Travesty of Justice’: Conviction of Hong Kong Media Tycoon Jimmy Lai Draws Global Condemnation
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The conviction of former Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai under a national security law written by the Chinese communist regime has drawn condemnation from governments and lawmakers around the world, who have called the ruling politically motivated and an erasure of the territory’s rule of law.
The guilty verdict was handed down on Dec. 15 by a panel of three national security judges, who were handpicked by the city’s pro-Beijing government, at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts in Hong Kong.
Lai had pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
A mitigation hearing is set to begin on Jan. 12. Sentencing would be handed down later, the city’s government said. Lai will decide whether to appeal after sentencing, according to his lawyer, Robert Pang.
The UK government said Lai, a British national, was targeted by Hong Kong and Beijing for “peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression.”
The European External Action Service, the European Union’s diplomatic arm, echoed the sentiment.
A police officer keeps watch as people wait in line to enter the West Kowloon Law Courts Building to hear the verdicts in the national security trial of pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong on Dec. 15, 2025. Leung Man Hei/AFP via Getty Images
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Taiwan
The Hong Kong media tycoon’s conviction has left Taiwan and the international community “deeply saddened and disappointed,” the Mainland Affairs Council in Taipei, Taiwan, said.“The Hong Kong government has always stressed ... ‘telling Hong Kong’s story well,’ but no amount of narrative can cover up the fact that it suppresses freedom of speech and persecutes pro-democracy activists,” the Taiwanese government agency, which is responsible for overseeing relations with Beijing, said in a statement.
The ruling against Lai essentially serves as a “declaration” to the world that freedoms, democracy, and judicial independence in Hong Kong have been “systematically eroded,” it stated.
The CCP views Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy, as part of its territory and has offered a “one country, two systems” framework for Taiwan, similar to the one it promised to apply to Hong Kong until 2047. That idea has been rejected by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, who has vowed to maintain the status quo with dignity and defend the island nation’s freedom.
Family
Sebastien Lai, son of the imprisoned publisher, appealed for urgent help to free his father, who turned 78 on Dec. 8.
Speaking at a news conference in London, Sebastien Lai called his father’s “rapidly” declining health “heartbreaking,” saying that the former businessman lost 10 kilograms (about 22 pounds) over the past year alone.
Sebastien Lai Sung-yan, son of jailed Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai, poses for a photograph following a news conference in London on Dec. 15, 2025. Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images
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Lawmakers
About 76 lawmakers from 30 countries have issued a statement calling on governments worldwide to condemn the “travesty of justice.”
“Jimmy Lai’s suffering is therefore due, in part, to the failure of the international community to enforce China’s legal obligations.”
The lawmakers urged their governments to make it clear that serious violations of international law will have “consequences.”
“There can be no business-as-usual with a state that persecutes innocent individuals on fabricated grounds,” they said in the statement.
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