Jimmy Lai, the outspoken pro-democracy media founder and longtime critic of Beijing, was convicted Monday in a closely watched national security trial in Hong Kong — a ruling that could see the 78-year-old spend the rest of his life in prison.
A panel of three government-approved judges found Lai guilty of conspiring to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security, as well as conspiring to publish seditious materials. Lai pleaded not guilty to all charges.
He was first arrested in August 2020 under the sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing following the mass pro-democracy protests of 2019. Lai has been held in custody for five years, much of that time in solitary confinement. His family says his health has deteriorated significantly during his detention. He has also been convicted in separate cases involving fraud-related charges and protest-linked activities.
The trial, held without a jury, has been closely followed by governments and observers in the United States, Britain and the European Union, who view it as a critical test of press freedom and judicial independence in Hong Kong since its return to Chinese rule in 1997.
Lai’s son, Sebastien Lai, said the family was deeply saddened but not surprised by the verdict. Speaking in London, he said the lengthy ruling failed to present credible evidence against his father and demonstrated how the national security law has been “weaponized” against dissent.
“This verdict shows the authorities still fear what my father represents, even in his weakened state,” Lai’s daughter Claire said in a statement, calling the conviction a miscarriage of justice and reaffirming the family’s belief in his innocence.
Reading from an 855-page judgment, Judge Esther Toh said the court found that Lai had spent years attempting to undermine Beijing, including repeatedly urging foreign governments — particularly the United States — to take action against China under the guise of supporting Hong Kong. While Lai’s lawyers acknowledged he had called for sanctions before the national security law came into force, they argued he later stopped to comply with the legislation.
The judges rejected that claim, ruling that Lai never abandoned his goal of destabilizing the Chinese Communist Party and instead continued pursuing it in subtler ways. The court described Lai as the central figure behind the alleged conspiracies and said his testimony was at times contradictory and unreliable.
The judges concluded that the only reasonable interpretation of the evidence was that Lai intended to bring down China’s ruling party, even at the expense of Hong Kong and mainland China. They characterized this as the ultimate objective of both the alleged conspiracies and the publications at issue.
Lai’s wife, one of his sons, and Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen were present in court. Lai nodded briefly toward his family before being led away.
The conviction carries international implications. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he raised Lai’s case directly with Chinese leaders, while U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to prioritize efforts to secure Lai’s release. Lai holds British citizenship, further intensifying diplomatic pressure surrounding the case.
