Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung issued a sharp rebuke to The Washington Post on Wednesday, denouncing the newspaper's recent editorial piece as "blatant lies" and "anti-China propaganda."

The letter, sent February 11, responds to the Post's February 9 editorial titled "A de facto death sentence for publishing a newspaper," which criticized the sentencing of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying.

Tang accused the Editorial Board of ignoring evidence presented in Lai's trial and attempting to “undermine the reputation of Hong Kong and our country.”

The security chief defended Lai’s 20-year prison sentence, asserting that Lai and eight defendants were prosecuted not for "publishing a newspaper" but for "serious offence related to endangering national security."

The case marks the first conviction under Hong Kong’s National Security Law—enacted in June 2020—for collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security. Lai, founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily, was found guilty of the charges and the “20 years' imprisonment reflects the grave nature of the case.”

“Your claim of a ‘kangaroo court’ is wildly inaccurate and offensive,” Tang wrote in the letter to the Editorial Board of The Washington Post. “Again, I resort to the plain facts: 156 days of fair and impartial public hearings in open court attended by the public, media and observers from around the world; up to 2,220 exhibits as evidence; over 80,000 pages of documents and statements of evidence from 14 prosecution witnesses.”

He said the court clearly pointed out that Lai was the mastermind of the case and the reasons for verdict and reasons for sentence are fully open for public inspection.

“Any suggestion that certain individuals should be immune from legal consequences for their illegal acts is no different from advocating a special privilege to break the law, and this totally runs contrary to the spirit of the rule of law,“ Tang added.