The sentencing decision in the Jimmy Lai case was officially announced on February 9. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in accordance with the law for two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publications. Following this announcement, certain US and Western media outlets have pleaded on behalf of Jimmy Lai and made unfounded claims about him on the pretext of "press freedom". They have also deliberately distorted the sentencing as a "suppression of press freedom", fabricated a false aura of a "martyr for press freedom", and attempted to mislead international public opinion and interfere in China's internal affairs, including Hong Kong affairs. It must be stressed that a wealth of conclusive evidence presented during the court proceedings and the testimonies of his former confidants have all clearly established that Jimmy Lai committed acts endangering national security under the guise of press freedom during the unrest stemming from the proposed amendment to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance. He has long since crossed the legal boundaries of press freedom and is in fact a saboteur of press freedom.
Jimmy Lai abused media power for personal gain, and Apple Daily degenerated into an instrument of evil for opposing China and sabotaging Hong Kong.
The duty of the news media is to convey diverse voices and facilitate rational social dialogue, rather than become a tool for personal political ambitions. Apple Daily has completely departed from the social responsibilities of the media and distorted journalistic tools into a "weapon" that undermines Hong Kong's security and stability. It has not only trampled on journalistic ethics, but also directly undermined the underpinnings of the practice of the One Country, Two Systems principle. Cheung Kim-hung, former CEO of Next Digital and Publisher of Apple Daily, testified that since the illegal Occupy Central movement in 2014, Jimmy Lai had made it clear that he intended to incite social unrest via misleading media coverage, attract overseas attention with distorted facts, and urge external forces to meddle in Hong Kong’s internal affairs—ultimately turning Apple Daily into a media outlet that opposes the regional government and confronts the central authorities. He also stated that during the unrest stemming from the proposed amendment to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance in 2019, Jimmy Lai instructed senior management to incite the public to take to the streets and participate in the so-called "protests" via Apple Daily. Cheung Kim-hung further mentioned that Jimmy Lai had required the newspaper's content to slant towards radicalism, focusing on themes such as protests, anti-establishment sentiment and sanctions, so as to continuously stir up social divisions. Chan Tsz-wah, who worked for Jimmy Lai during the unrest over the ordinance amendment, stated in court that Jimmy Lai's ultimate goal was to achieve what he called "the collapse of China" – meaning the political and economic breakdown of China. He added that "After China's collapse, its GDP would plummet by 40 percent, and that would be the perfect time to introduce American-style democracy."
Jimmy Lai has departed from the norms of journalistic objectivity and neutrality and flagrantly trampled on the red line of the law.
Objectivity, neutrality, and balanced reporting are the professional ethical norms of the journalism industry. However, Jimmy Lai completely abandoned this bottom line and, through manipulating Apple Daily, committed a series of illegal acts of inciting secession and endangering national security during the 2019 unrest stemming from the proposed amendment to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance. Cheung Kim-hung testified that Jimmy Lai had explicitly instructed that the English news section of Apple Daily did not need to conduct balanced reporting, nor publish pro-China articles that were beneficial to China. Yeung Ching-kei, former chief editorial writer of Apple Daily, further confirmed that when writing editorials and selecting manuscripts for the forum section, he took Jimmy Lai’s views and stance as his guiding principle, rather than making balanced judgments based on objective facts. Chan Pui-man, former deputy publisher of Apple Daily, revealed that during the 2019 unrest over the ordinance amendment, Jimmy Lai had instructed Apple Daily journalists to conduct interviews with the motive of guiding the public to support the so-called protest movement and incite the public to keep participating in it. Under Jimmy Lai’s full manipulation, Apple Daily published a total of 161 incendiary articles during the unrest over the ordinance amendment. The court found that these articles exceeded the lawful scope, and they formed part of the core evidence supporting the conviction for conspiracy to publish seditious publications.
Jimmy Lai exercised tight control over Apple Daily, and its editorial and journalistic freedom was completely eradicated.
Editorial and journalistic freedom is one of the concrete manifestations of press freedom, and the media ought to exercise independent judgment based on facts and diverse perspectives. Jimmy Lai’s control over Apple Daily has been laid bare by the testimonies of his confidants, and such freedom had long since vanished entirely under his arbitrary will. Cheung Kim-hung testified in court that the editorial and journalistic policies of Apple Daily were formulated personally by Jimmy Lai, who also issued publication guidelines by holding the so-called "Box Lunch Meetings", with such instructions taking precedence over the principle of editorial and journalistic autonomy. Chan Pui-man described Jimmy Lai as an overbearing figure who adopted a final-word approach to the newspaper’s editorial and journalistic policies. She stated that she had opposed Jimmy Lai’s move to promote the "Save Hong Kong with One Person, One Letter" campaign in the name of Apple Daily, yet Lai remained unyielding, leaving the newspaper’s staff with no means to resist. In her plea in mitigation, Chan Pui-man indicated that she now felt profound regret for not having taken a firmer stance on inappropriate matters back then. Yeung Ching-kei said that the editorial and journalistic staff only had a modicum of freedom within the "cage" set by Jimmy Lai, and disclosed that there had been a precedent where an editor was dismissed for insisting on publishing works by authors whose views were inconsistent with Apple Daily’s stance. A former senior executive of Apple Daily revealed that Jimmy Lai had overruled the decisions made by the newspaper’s senior management, ordering the publication of advertisements for the Falun Gong cult and the release of an apology.
The court ruled that accomplice witnesses Cheung Kim-hung, Chan Pui-man, Yeung Ching-kei and Chan Tsz-wah were all credible witnesses. Jimmy Lai’s crimes were fully corroborated by the layered testimonies of his confidants, and his series of acts turned Apple Daily into a mouthpiece for his personal will. This was not only a blatant desecration of journalistic professional ethics, but also exposed his true nature of sabotaging Hong Kong under the pretext of running a media outlet; the so-called "press freedom" was merely a hypocritical pretense for him to evade legal sanctions. The judgment in this case has demonstrated the independence and professionalism of Hong Kong’s judicial system. It has not only drawn a clear line between press freedom and illegal and criminal acts, but also sent an unequivocal message that any act which undermines the One Country, Two Systems principle and challenges national sovereignty will inevitably bear legal consequences.
Liang Yaqi is a member of Chinese Association of Hong Kong & Macao Studies
