The case against online news website “Stand News” has concluded with two chief editors and the parent company found guilty of "conspiring to publish seditious publications." Western governments, including the United States and the United Kingdom, promptly criticized the verdict, alleging that freedom of speech and the press are diminishing in Hong Kong. However, when compared to actions taken by these same Western governments, Hong Kong's measures appear relatively restrained.
In the United Kingdom, swift trials and severe sentencing have once again set a precedent. British Undersecretary of State (Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office), Catherine West, posted on the social media platform X, urging Hong Kong authorities to halt what she termed "political prosecutions" of journalists and to uphold the freedom of the press as stipulated in the Basic Law. This criticism is ironic given the UK's recent harsh sentencing of instigators of domestic riots.
On July 29, nationwide riots erupted across the UK following a knife attack at a children's dance school perpetrated by a member of a minority group. The British government responded by employing rapid trial and sentencing procedures reminiscent of those used during the 2011 London riots. By August 13, authorities had arrested 1,024 individuals, with 572 swiftly prosecuted. Many received immediate prison sentences ranging from several weeks to ten years, including an 11-year-old boy and a 69-year-old man.
By West's own standards critiquing Hong Kong, some of those heavily sentenced in the UK were merely engaging in what could be described as "free exchange of opinions" online, without participating directly in the riots. For example, 28-year-old Jordan Parlour from Leeds admitted to posting racially charged messages on Facebook and was sentenced to 20 months in prison, becoming the first individual sentenced in connection with the UK riots. Parlour's posts included statements such as, "smash [the] f--- out of Britannia hotel (a hotel housing migrants)". He also claimed in a comment on Facebook that migrants were given "the Life of Riley off the tax us hard-working people earn when it could be put to better use". Compared to the 11 articles by “Stand News” deemed seditious, Parlour's comments seem relatively minor. Notably, the maximum sentence for "sedition" in Hong Kong at that time was two years, making it unlikely that the defendants in the “Stand News” case will face harsher penalties than Parlour. In some instances, individuals in the UK received several weeks of imprisonment merely for reacting with supportive emojis to radical posts—outcomes unimaginable in Hong Kong.
Similarly, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated on X that the conviction of “Stand News” represents a direct attack on press freedom and tarnishes Hong Kong's reputation for openness. However, recalling the sentencing following the 2021 Capitol Hill riots, Enrique Tarrio, former leader of the right-wing group Proud Boys, was sentenced to 22 years in prison—the longest sentence among all defendants involved. Tarrio was convicted of "seditious conspiracy" despite not being physically present at the Capitol during the riots; he was coordinating activities online from a hotel in Baltimore. When comparing the 2021 Capitol Hill riots to the prolonged unrest in Hong Kong in 2019, the U.S. incident was relatively brief, yet one of its organizers received a 22-year sentence. By American standards, it raises the question of why Tarrio's sentence is not considered a violation of freedom of speech.
The situation in France further highlights this apparent double standard. A spokesperson for the European Union's External Action Service criticized the “Stand News” verdict as another example of shrinking press freedom in Hong Kong, warning that it could further limit diverse opinions and the free flow of information—both fundamental to Hong Kong's economic success. But look at what the French did. France recently arrested Pavel Durov, founder of the messaging app Telegram, accusing the platform of facilitating unchecked criminal activities. It’s noted that Telegram was widely used during Hong Kong's 2019 unrest, with several groups directly organizing riots through the app. Despite this, Hong Kong authorities have not taken action against such communication platforms, which often claim they cannot control the content shared by users. Now that France directly hit on a communication software provider, but the EU spokesperson says nothing about freedom of expression in France.
In summary, the United States and other Western governments often exhibit inconsistencies between their words and actions. The UK's handling of rioters and France's arrest of Telegram's founder inadvertently support the Hong Kong court's judgment in the “Stand News” case by demonstrating methods of addressing incitement to rebellion. Notably, the UK's rapid sentencing effectively quelled the riots within 11 days—an approach Hong Kong should seriously study and consider.
Wing-hung Lo
Bastille Commentary
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
Here's a simple truth about lies: tell one big enough, and someone will always believe it. The tale spun by Jimmy Lai's son and daughter—that their father's health is collapsing in prison without medical care—is a textbook case.
Before and after the verdict came down, a flood of misleading commentary washed across foreign media. In just eight days following the ruling, China's Foreign Ministry Commissioner's Office in the HKSAR fired off eight separate rebuttals targeting U.S. and Western statements. They also "summoned the heads of the Hong Kong-based missions of relevant countries and organisations, including the United States and the United Kingdom, and lodged solemn representations regarding their officials' and politicians' comments interfering in the verdict and sentencing in the Jimmy Lai case."
Cui Jianchun, the Commissioner, went further. He published a South China Morning Post piece titled "On the Jimmy Lai case, this is what you should know"—a direct hit against the rumor mill. The key question: Was Lai treated unfairly? Cui's answer was unequivocal: "Regarding the claims about Jimmy Lai's treatment while in custody, facts speak louder than words. The Correctional Services Department has consistently provided him with comprehensive medical care in accordance with the law, ensuring he remains in good health. Lai's defence lawyers confirmed in court that he had not been treated unfairly. These facts fully demonstrate that in every detail of law enforcement, the HKSAR government upholds the principles of the rule of law and humanitarianism."
The Children's Campaign of Fabrication
A large chunk of those rumors came straight from Lai's own children. On December 3, before the verdict dropped, Agence France-Presse interviewed them. The picture they painted was grim. Lai's daughter Lai Choi delivered the most dramatic claim: "Dad has clearly lost a lot of weight and is weaker than before. His fingernails turned purple, grey and green, and then fell off. His teeth have started to rot."
But wait, there's more. Lai Choi claimed prison officers blocked the devout Catholic from receiving Holy Communion. She described petty acts designed to break his spirit. Her example? Once guards learned Lai liked curry sauce, they cut him off completely—no more curry sauce at all.
Lai's son Lai Chung-yan piled on with his own dramatic narrative. Lai has diabetes, he said. The prison has no air-conditioning, with summer temperatures hitting 44°C. His solution? "Putting Lai on a plane and sending him away would take only two hours, and that doing so would be humane and the right thing to do."
I'm quoting at length for a reason. Watch how the lies unfold. Yes, Lai has diabetes. The fact is, he had spent years eating and drinking excessively. In prison, he's forced onto a healthy diet. As a Justice of the Peace I have visited prisons multiple times, and personally sampled the meals arranged according to dietitians' guidance. They taste like fast food you'd buy outside—perfectly normal.
Reality Check: What Observers Actually Saw
When Lai appeared in court, observers did notice he was slimmer than before imprisonment. But this is what I'd call a "healthy kind of slim." As for the curry sauce demand? Perhaps Lai Choi has confused Hong Kong prisons with Michelin-starred restaurants—as if inmates can order à la carte like diners at a high-end eatery. By the same logic, yes, there's no air-conditioning in prisons. People need to understand something fundamental: imprisonment is punishment, not a hotel vacation.
About those supposedly green, falling-off nails. When Lai attended the verdict hearing, people present saw his fingernails were normally pink and looked quite healthy. No one spotted any horrifying grey or green nails. None had fallen off. The real-world scene of Lai appearing in court told a different story—he looked to be in fairly good condition, nowhere near the death's-door state his children described.
Why are Lai's children lying so brazenly? Simple. They want foreign readers to believe Hong Kong's prisons operate like "dark jails" in a third-world country—that Lai is being abused. This makes their "rescue" campaign appear more necessary and urgent. It conveniently helps people forget what Lai actually is: a serious criminal who colluded with foreign forces seeking China's collapse.
The Question Lawyers Won't Answer
Everyone needs to grasp one simple fact: if Lai were truly being treated inhumanely, his own defence lawyers would have raised it in court. But lawyers can't lie. So they didn't. At an open hearing last August, Lai's senior counsel made crystal clear to the court that the correctional institution arranged daily medical check-ups for Lai. They had no complaints—zero—about the medical care he received inside. The court even stated at the time that the Correctional Services Department deserved praise.
It seems Lai's children think being overseas gives them a free pass to lie recklessly without bearing any responsibility. That's how you get fabrications like "fingernails turned green and fell off." They're spreading rumors about Lai's supposedly dire health for one purpose: to disrupt Hong Kong's rule of law and spring the convicted criminal through medical bail, then hand him over to a foreign country. But Hong Kong, as a society governed by the rule of law, has no arrangement to transfer convicted prisoners to foreign states. So no matter what rumors they spread, their goal won't be achieved.
Lo Wing-hung
