Pro-democracy activist and media tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong on Monday, effectively a life sentence given his age and reportedly poor health in detention.
Human-rights groups and foreign governments denounced the harsh sentence, but China dismissed such criticism as an assault on the “sovereignty” of Hong Kong – which is now a fully-controlled puppet state of Beijing.
Lai, 78, was convicted of “national security” offenses in December under the tyrannical laws China imposed on Hong Kong to crush the 2019 pro-democracy uprising. The ruling claimed that Lai “colluded with foreign forces” in a “seditious” plot to undermine the Chinese Communist Party by supporting the pro-democracy protests.
Under the 2020 national security law, virtually all criticism of the Chinese Communist Party or its puppet government in Hong Kong can be prosecuted as sedition, and Hong Kong prosecutors usually accuse defendants of “colluding” with outside governments, to reinforce Beijing’s narrative that pro-democracy activism is inspired and directed by hostile foreign powers like the United States.
The court on Monday imposed the harshest available penalties for Lai’s two counts of foreign collusion and one of sedition, because he was allegedly the “driving force” behind the massive protest movement in 2019, making his offenses particularly “grave.”
The Communist-controlled court was especially angry at Lai for allegedly supporting sanctions and other “hostile acts” from the United States against Hong Kong, using his now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper and staff. The prosecution admitted early in his trial that Lai did not directly work with foreign governments to impose sanctions, but claimed he used his media influence to “create a false impression” of Hong Kong and China that would inspire other governments to take action.
“In the present case, Lai was no doubt the mastermind of all three conspiracies charged and therefore he warrants a heavier sentence,” the judges ruled.
Sebastien Lai Sung-yan, son of jailed Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai, poses for a photograph following a press conference in London on December 15, 2025, after his father was found guilty on three charges in his national security trial. (HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP via Getty Images)
Six senior staffers from Apple Daily were sentenced alongside Lai, along with a paralegal and a pro-democracy activist, to sentences of six to ten years in prison.
Lai was arrested in 2020 and has been in detention ever since, mostly in solitary confinement. His family said his health deteriorated sharply while he awaited the “show trial” that just concluded with a sentence that probably means he will never leave prison. Lai’s son Sebastien told the BBC on Monday that his 20-year sentence was “heartbreaking” and “basically a death sentence.”
President Donald Trump sought to intervene on Lai’s behalf during the past few months, making a personal appeal to Chinese dictator Xi Jinping, but Xi has yet to show any mercy to Lai.
Human-rights organizations and free nations around the world immediately condemned the harsh sentence imposed on Lai.
Amnesty International (AI) called Lai’s sentence “another grim milestone in Hong Kong’s transformation from a city governed by the rule of law to one ruled by fear,” and a “cold-blooded attack of freedom of expression.”
“Imprisoning a 78-year-old man for doing nothing more than exercising his rights shows a complete disregard for human dignity. Every day he spends in behind bars is a grave injustice,” said AI deputy regional director Sarah Brooks.
“The sentences handed down to Lai and his colleagues are very harsh, even by mainland standards,” noted Elaine Pearson, Asia director for Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Pearson called Lai’s sentence “cruel and profoundly unjust.”
“These national security trials are ultimately serving a political goal of extinguishing dissent and sending a message to anyone who dares to criticize the Chinese Communist Party,” she said.
The government of Taiwan on Monday condemned the Chinese Communist Party and Hong Kong government for “suppressing freedom and human rights in the name of national security,” and said Lai’s sentence was a clear act of “political persecution.”
“This is not a special incident or a single case in Hong Kong, but a warning sign that the CCP is accelerating its totalitarian output,” said the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) of Taiwan.
U.S. lawmakers denounced Lai’s sentence, including Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), chair of the House Select Committee on China.
“The sentencing of Jimmy Lai is the latest stain on the human rights record of the Chinese Communist Party and the farce of its promise to uphold one country, two systems,” he said, referring to China’s broken promises to respect the basic freedoms of Hong Kong residents when Beijing took control of the island from the United Kingdom in 1997.
“If General Secretary Xi wants to improve his relationship with the United States, freeing Jimmy Lai is where he needs to start,” he said.
“The world is watching, and we know the truth: Jimmy Lai is innocent, and he should be home with his family tonight, not in the hands of Xi’s thuggish regime,” said Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL).
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is facing heavy criticism for not doing enough to help Lai, who holds British citizenship.
“Keir Starmer ‘raising it’ with the CCP during his visit, approving their mega-embassy and surrendering the Chagos Islands clearly did nothing. The Chinese have walked all over our weak Prime Minister,” said Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, referring to recent concessions Starmer gave to the Chinese government.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper promised on Monday to “rapidly engage” with the Chinese government to “end his appalling ordeal and release him on humanitarian grounds, so that he may be reunited with his family.”
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