So, the European Parliament has decreed that convicted felon Jimmy Lai should be set free to roam the streets of Hong Kong as if nothing happened. Their decree totally disregards a 855-page conviction reading in a court, with a higher ranking than the US, against Lai who now awaits sentencing.
Of course, the Hong Kong and Beijing authorities have condemned the ruling. The Hong Kong government and China’s Foreign Ministry strongly opposed the resolution, calling it an "interference in internal affairs" and a "misinterpretation" of Hong Kong’s legal system. They emphasized that the judiciary operates independently and that Lai’s trial was based on factual evidence. The officials stated that the resolution was politically motivated and did not conform to international law.
The Europeans are under the false impression that Lai was prosecuted for “freedom of expression and democracy in Hong Kong”, a fallacy carefully orchestrated by a multi-million-dollar publicity campaign.
The people of Hong Kong are fed up with the Jimmy Lai case so-much-so that the Legislative Council took the unusual step by issuing a statement that all members fully support the statements issued by the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong and the HKSAR Government, and firmly believe that the HKSAR Government will resolutely implement the national security laws, while protecting the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents under the “one country, two systems” principle.
What was telling during the debate was that the swaying arguments were presented by Lai’s dutiful son Sebastien and his public relations-cum-legal advisor Caoilfhionn Gallagher, KC. There was no input from the Hong Kong side, which presumably, did not recognise the debate. It was, after all a non-binding resolution and served merely for its publicity value.
Gallagher and her team including another KC, Jonathan Price, are fully aware of the law and know very well that they have crossed the red line by undermining Hong Kong’s legal system. Gallagher continually calls it a “sham or show” trial with full knowledge that the city’s judiciary ranks among the highest in the world. (The World Justice Project released the Rule of Law Index 2025 and Hong Kong's ranking in the Index continues to be 6th in East Asia and the Pacific, and 24th out of 143 countries and jurisdictions globally, two points above the US). It is generally a no-no for the legal profession to criticize the judiciary.
The parliamentary session in Strasbourg, France called for European Union members to suspend extradition treaties with mainland China and Hong Kong, in addition to calling for the European Commission to initiate the suspension of the city's status under the World Trade Organization (WTO). Hong Kong has been a member of the WTO in its own right since its founding in 1995 and will continue to do so. There is no way in which the WTO will suspend Hong Kong’s membership. The resolution is a tall order that means nothing. Of the 720-strong parliament, 503 voted in favour of the resolution, nine against and 100 abstentions.
It was obvious that none of those who voted in favour of the resolution had read the conviction notes of three High Court judges who found Lai guilty of sedition-related charges. If they had, they would have voted against the resolution.
However, publicity was minimal and it is understood it received no traction what-so-ever within Europe. The press releases were issued by Gallagher’s law firm of Doughty Street Chambers in London and reached only a handful of papers in the UK and the wire services to reach Hong Kong.
The resolution on ‘The conviction and imminent sentencing of Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong’ is the fourth time that the European Parliament has formally raised the Jimmy Lai detention at the behest of Gallagher and her team. And each time it gets nowhere as the parliament itself has no teeth, except for being a public relations vehicle.
Mark Pinkstone
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
When Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po decided to pour $1.2 billion into sports promotion, he was investing in Hong Kong’s youth to lead the city into a secure and bright future.
There is no doubt that sport develops the mind to positive thinking. And that is what is needed among Hong Kong’s youth.
Chan’s cash input into the Arts and Sports Development Fund will be used to strengthen training for team sports athletes, improve the professional standards of coaches, as well as supporting and exploring more diverse and higher-level sports competitions to be held in Hong Kong.
This injection of funds will also enable organizations to develop and promote sport to international levels to attract tourism by staging major events like the Rugby Sevens and professional golf and tennis matches.
In Hong Kong there is virtually no graffiti, as our youth are too preoccupied with study or work to mess about with vandalism, unlike in the west where buildings and subways are defaced by vandals with too much idle time on their hands.
Hong Kong youth are keen sports participants and through those activity come discipline. Thus, no graffiti.
During his budget speech, Chan praised Hong Kong athletes for having achieved outstanding results on the international stage. Last year, local athletes achieved historic results in the National Games, winning nine gold, two silver and eight bronze medals. With this in mind, Chan allocated more resources to proactively promote sports in the community, support elite sports, maintain Hong Kong as a centre for major international sports events, enhance professionalism in sports, and develop sports as an industry.
However, their minds are still young and subject to exploitation by undesirable forces as we learned in 2019 when the US Department of State’s National Endowment for Development (NED) infiltrated primary and secondary schools as well a university graduates and convinced them to rebel against Hong Kong and seek its independence. There was a price to pay for the young rebels as well as the community, which suffered losses in property and lives.
The NED is still here waiting to strike again when the time is ripe, and Hong Kong will be prepared for such an onslaught.
The minds of our youth must be attuned to recognizing the good and the bad. They must be able to recognize that the propaganda uttered by NED is false and must be repelled. Primary school children can become intensely focused on peer relationships, which means team dynamics can be a powerful vehicle for learning conflict resolution. And this is where sports comes in.
Playing sports teaches far more than how to throw a ball or run faster. It builds a specific set of mental, emotional, and social skills that show up in classrooms, careers, and relationships long after the final whistle. The lessons range from obvious ones like teamwork to less visible changes in how the brain handles stress, makes decisions, and stays focused under pressure.
Throughout their adolescent years young players grow from being mere team members to team leaders. They learn as a team and the importance that has on their future life.
Research on athlete leadership development shows that effective team captains learn specific skills through their roles: clear communication, emotional control, tactical decision-making, and the ability to make sure every teammate has a voice. These aren’t traits people are born with. They’re practiced and refined through the daily demands of being on a team.
Not all sports teach the same things in the same way. A 2025 study in Frontiers in Psychology found a clear split: team sports primarily build psychological resilience through social support, while individual sports like swimming, tennis, or track build them through self-efficacy, your belief in your own ability to handle challenges.
Sports don’t just work your body. They sharpen three core mental abilities that an psychologist grouped the term as an “executive function”: working memory (holding and juggling information in your head), impulse control (resisting a snap reaction to make a better choice), and cognitive flexibility (switching between tasks or strategies on the fly). A meta-analysis published in Brain Sciences found large improvements in all three areas among children and adolescents who participated in sports-based programs.
With a pure mind developed by sports, our youth today, with support from the government, will lead Hong Kong into a futuristic world planned by their forefathers and shielding us from external forces which threaten our existence.
