The recent conviction of Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong’s most famous dissident, on alleged national security offenses was the end of a process set in motion years ago by the Chinese Communist Party. Lai, who could have sought safety in another country, chose to stay and fight.
Jimmy Lai leaves the Court of Final Appeal after his bail was denied in Hong Kong, February 9, 2021. Credit: Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images
The Chinese Communist Party finally got its man on December 15, when Hong Kong’s High Court found Jimmy Lai guilty of “collusion” with foreign forces and conspiring to publish “seditious articles.”
An excerpt from the verdict delivered by Hong Kong's Court of First Instance. Credit: Legal Reference System
But the conviction of Lai, the self-made entrepreneur and pro-democracy media publisher, was in fact an anti-climax — a footnote in a long and carefully orchestrated exercise
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