Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years jail for treason related charges and the reaction from the international media and politicians is predictable.
They all decry Hong Kong and its judicial system as being unfair and persist in calling for his immediate release from prison.
They cite his failing health as a reason for his release. He has Type 2 diabetes, which is not uncommon in Hong Kong, including among the 10,000 inmates interned in local prisons.
In passing sentence, the three judges hearing the 156-day trial, noted that Lai was the mastermind and driving force behind these conspiracies. After considering the serious and grave criminal conduct of Lai, as noted in the Reasons for Verdict, applying the totality principle, the Court was satisfied that the total sentence for Lai in the present case should be 20 years’ imprisonment.
In a show of total transparency, the sentencing document was 47 pages long. Relevant extracts were read out in court, with full copies given to lawyers, the media and uploaded on the internet.
Six other co-defendants were also sentenced to jail time ranging from 6 years and 9 months to 10 years.
Lai was convicted last month on sedition and colluding with foreign governments to overthrow the Hong Kong government. These are serious charges anywhere in the world and a sentence of 20 years for such offences is duly warranted. Undoubtedly, he will appeal.
Stanley prison, where he is interned, has full hospital facilities staffed by qualified healthcare personnel, and round-the-clock basic health care services are provided at all penal institutions. Lai is receiving the best medical treatment available. The Correctional Services Department has a full-time chaplain who co-ordinates the planning and provision of religious services and Lai, a devout Catholic, specifically asked not to receive any religious privileges. He also asked to be kept in solitary confinement so as to not mingle with other inmates. Justices of Peace visit the prison every week to hear complaints from inmates and inspect their facilities. He has not been deprived of medical or visiting rights as suggested by his children, Sebastien and Claire, who have embarked on a campaign for his immediate release.
Lai senior has been found guilty of colluding with foreign governments, yet this is exactly what his children are doing. With millions of dollars at their disposal, they have embarked on a world-wide campaign to free their father, a basic instinct, which can only be achieved with the help of a huge bank roll. They have lobbied politicians in the US, UK and EU to apply pressure on the Hong Kong judiciary and authorities to release their father. For the Lai family, colluding with foreign forces is their own salvation.
But the judiciary is totally independent, free from pressures by human rights groups, the media, politicians and, indeed, the administration. The three judges – Esther Toh Lye-ping, Susana D’Almada Remedios and Alex Lee Wan-tang – sat through gruelling evidence over a period of two years (with gaps in between) and produced a 855-page detailed document explaining the reasons behind their guilty convictions. Representatives from the UK, US and EU with a bevy of press attended the proceedings every day. The courtroom was specially configured to allow 58 seats in the public gallery and another 42 for the press in the main courtroom. Of those, 21 are allocated to local media, 14 to international outlets and seven to digital news platforms. Nothing can be more transparent than that.
This was not a “sham” trial as suggested by the Lai followers. Hong Kong is rated 6th in the Asia/Pacific region and 24th out of 143 countries worldwide by the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, two points above the US. Its independence is beyond reproach.
Yet the western media is being used to cast doubt on the judiciary’s ruling and sentencing. Lai has been painted as a father of democracy, but “democracy” was not his rallying call. His whole campaigns have centred around separatism. He was seeking Hong Kong independence, like Alberta pulling away from Canada, California from the USA and Catalonia from Spain. All have been rebutted by their federal governments. Arrest warrants have been issued for former journalist Carles Puigdemont as leader of the Spanish revolt and now in exile in Belgium with separatism charges looming over his head.
But Jimmy Lai did not flee Hong Kong after the 2019-20 bloody riots, which he fuelled through his newspaper, Apple Daily. Instead, he stayed behind to face the music and to be hailed a martyr to the cause. It is because of this carefully orchestrated action that he got to the support of world leaders who mistakenly thought he was advocating democracy. They were fooled by a billionaire and his family into thinking that by giving him support, they were providing freedom to the people of Hong Kong. Hong Kong people have all the freedoms they want and can even criticize the government for maladministration without fear of persecution.
Democracy was never an issue. Hong Kong has a fully elected legislature, its president is elected by its members, and the Chief Executive is elected by a 1500-strong election committee – 1000 more than the US. Hong Kong has a democracy and its Basic Law (mini constitution) allows for the Chief Executive to be elected by universal suffrage sometime in the future.
Mark Pinkstone
** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **
When China’s Paramount Leader Deng Xiao Ping floated the idea of one country two systems for the future of Hong Kong, the west scoffed at the possibility of a communist regime and a capitalist bastion living hand in hand. Some 29 years later the prophets of doom were proven wrong as Hong Kong is now more prosperous than ever and it’s future will be more so.
For more than 150 years Hong Kong lived under a British colonial rule. There was no democracy, only authoritarian management. The succession of ruling governors were hand-picked by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and appointed by the Prime Minister, without any consultation with the people of Hong Kong.
But the people of Hong Kong didn’t mind. If they had never seen democracy, how could they miss it. The governors were diplomats and their upper-crust training ensured that the natives were happy and that their rice bowls were filled. The diplomats got on well with the Chinese government as they knew that harmony was the key component to a successful relationship.
Then came along a politician for the first time to run Hong Kong in the name of Chris Patten, who had lost his seat in the Bath electorate, about 156 km west of London. John Major was Prime Minister at the time and a good friend of Patten. So, to make up for the political loss in Bath, Major offered Patten the cushy job of being governor of Hong Kong.
In 1992 Patten and his family arrived in Hong Kong and as a typical politician, he arrived like a bull in a china shop (pun intended). There was no diplomacy involved. Patten and Major had decided that the foreign office diplomats were pussy-footing with the Chinese during the previous decade negotiating Hong Kong’s future and a firmer stand was necessary.
Unlike his predecessors, Patten knew nothing of Chinese traditions and customs. He just could not understand Chinese mentality and that applied not only to the mainlanders but also the local Chinese. The East is East and the West is West and never the twain shall meet wrote poet Rudyard Kipling in 1889. But, in Hong Kong they did.
The Joint Declaration between Great Britain and China on the future of Hong Kong and the subsequent Basic Law (Hong Kong’s mini constitution) provided the pathway for Hong Kong’s future, including democratic elections for the city’s legislative council. But Patten was impatient and decided to introduce a fully elected legislature in 1995 immediately before the handover in 1997. This infuriated the Chinese-side, and they provided for a provisional legislature to replace Patten’s council as soon as Hong Kong was reverted to Beijing’s administration.
After 1997, Hong Kong formed its first directly elected Legislative Council in 1998, while the Chief Executive is elected by an Election Committee — a system similar to the U.S. presidential election. Hong Kong's Election Committee now has 1,500 members, whereas the U.S. Electoral College has only 538 members.
Since then, Hong Kong has flourished. The prophets of doom and Kipling were wrong. Despite many attempts by the west to dismantle the Deng formula Hong Kong is one of the most successful places on the planet. Year after year it is breaking records to the envy of many. Hong Kong has secured third place in the Global Financial Centres Index. In the latest World Competitiveness Ranking, Hong Kong's position has risen one spot further to rank second globally. And in the World Talent Ranking, Hong Kong has moved up 10 places to rank the fourth globally and the first in Asia. Hong Kong also continues to come first as the world's freest economy. And Hong Kong has what many want – stability.
The Hong Kong formula is unique and successful. Never tried before, it was seen as an experiment and the world was watching, waiting for it to fail. But the Hong Kong people are resourceful and will take any challenge head on. There is no failure.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), established under the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Constitution, has maintained the previous capitalist system and way of life. Its common law system continues to operate, and it enjoys the free flow of people, capital, data, goods and more. The vibrancy and prosperity of the central government has always been Hong Kong's strongest backing.
Hong Kong’s 29th birthday under the PRC guidance, coincides with the 105th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China. Naturally there have been celebrations all round, and justifiably so. Both Hong Kong and the central government are proud of what they have achieved. And both, particularly in the past year have taken top ranking as the preferred place in the world to trust and to do business.
Chief Executive John Lee, at a celebratory function on July 1 summed it up with: “Hong Kong, the Pearl of the Orient, will ride the wave of flourishing national development and sail with the wind, steering towards a brighter and more prosperous future!”
And the future is being mapped out in Hong Kong’s first five-year plan, currently under consultation with the public. The plan, a road map for future leaders to follow, will include a futuristic block of land, one third of Hong Kong’s total, to house high tech innovative research and development facilities with university, hospital and new town ancillary services. This Northern Metropolis straddles the river that acts as the boundary between Hong Kong and neighboring Shenzhen, with bridges linking the two; further proof that Hong Kong is an integral part of China.
