Europe Puts Jimmy Lai under the Spotlight again: What Is the Purpose?

Two stories have surfaced in mainstream Western media. Both come from European state broadcasters. Both are telling.

"On June 23, imprisoned Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai officially received the Deutsche Welle Freedom of Speech Award. His daughter, Lai Choi, accepted the award on her father's behalf at DW's headquarters in Bonn and sat down for an interview with DW." — Deutsche Welle

"June 24 marked the fifth anniversary of the forced closure of Apple Daily. Yet many Hong Kong people have clearly not forgotten the once outspoken and widely read newspaper, making a special trip to Taipei to view an exhibition tracing the paper's 26-year journey." — Radio France INternationale (RFI).

Deutsche Welle hands out a "Jimmy Lai Award." RFI follows with an "Apple Daily Fifth Anniversary" commemoration. The symbolism is profound. Matters of genuine international concern. And because both outlets carry state-broadcaster status, there is all the more reason to approach all reportings on Chinese affairs with cool-headed restraint. In China, the law now speaks clearly on such matters.

On March 12, 2026, China's National People's Congress passed the Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress, which takes effect on July 1. The law was enacted to "forge strong sense of community for Chinese nation". It comprises seven chapters and 65 articles, covering education, language, publishing, the internet, business activities, and religion. Its reach extends to Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities.

The move has triggered unprecedented anxiety among foreign forces — that is, foreigners, foreign organizations, and institutions engaged in conduct hostile to China. A local Japanese councilor has warned citizens that "criticizing China's ethnic minority or religious policies while abroad, particularly openly supporting Taiwan, could be deemed a violation by Beijing." A British think tank has cautioned that "China is expanding the extraterritorial application of its laws to tighten cross-border pressure on overseas businesses, organizations, and individuals connected to Taiwan."

For those foreign forces who remain unclear about this law, let me state it plainly. Under Chinese law, Taiwan independence, Xinjiang independence, and Hong Kong independence are serious violations that split the nation and destroy ethnic unity. They will be pursued with full severity.

Consider a recent law enforcement action in Hong Kong. On June 24, the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force conducted an operation, raiding the "Hunter Bookstore" in Sham Shui Po and arresting one local woman and one local man. The pair had been selling and displaying publications with seditious intent at the store, and had regularly organized talks and sharing sessions targeting young people and students. The sessions incited hatred toward the Hong Kong SAR Government, the judiciary, and law enforcement agencies. 

Take note: among the allegedly unlawful items were publications sold at the "Hunter Bookstore" — including The Jimmy Lai Biography and works by cartoonist Zunzi.

This is not a legal lecture. But it is a story worth telling. In 2021, representatives from the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom used a United Nations venue to host a video conference. Reportedly attended by delegates from dozens of countries, the meeting focused on human rights issues in Xinjiang — allegations of concentration camps, forced labor, and even genocide. Yet those in attendance revealed no specific details and disclosed no investigative evidence. What was reported was simply that "various human rights issues allegedly exist in Xinjiang."

What was peculiar is that Western journalists, politicians, and academics declined to answer challenges from the "verifier": China. Instead, they demanded that China, the very party being accused, prove its own innocence. The verdict is plain: if the West were genuinely strong, this might be called audacious. If the West is merely posturing, it should be called shameless.

Western champions of human rights and democracy have long relied on fabricated material about the Chinese government's alleged suppression of ethnic minorities and so-called "democracy activists." This material is then recycled through mainstream Western media as pointed questions directed at China. The effect is an illusion where the false appears true and the true appears false. A convenient mechanism for "foreign forces" to attack China.

For years, the West has wielded the twin banners of human rights and democracy — augmented by so-called "Western press freedom" — as instruments to attack China's sovereignty without limit and undermine our national unity. This cannot be allowed to continue. Rather than engaging in endless back-and-forth, it is better to lay down clear rules and let everyone act accordingly.

Deep Blue

** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **

It was 1950. The US government detained Qian Xuesen and slapped him with a $15,000 bail, enough to keep a family comfortable for years. Caltech and his friends eventually scraped together the money. But to this day, the exact details of how it was raised and whether the bail was ever refunded remain murky.

That episode is part of what historians call the 'Qian Xuesen Mystery.' Today, we're grappling with a new riddle: Why couldn't America keep Yang Zhilin? Eighty years apart. You have to ask: what the hell kind of place is America, anyway?

Salakhutdinov, a Carnegie Mellon professor and AI research advisor, remembers it well. Yang Zhilin could have easily stayed in the United States, but he chose to return to China and start a business. So Yang came home. In 2023 he founded Moonshot AI, and its Kimi K3 model now rivals the best America has to offer.

Some eighty years ago, Qian Xuesen was a founder of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Then, suddenly, he was accused of being a spy and a member of the US Communist Party. He spent five years under house arrest before he was allowed to leave the US. In September 1955, he sailed back to China. There, he made monumental contributions to the nation's rocket, ballistic missile, and space programs. The most famous: the Dongfeng missile series. He changed China's destiny.

Why bring this up? Because Qian's work was about the tools of a great power. It's no exaggeration to say the next set of those tools is AI models. Their power lies in leapfrogging US technology, ensuring America can no longer single-handedly steer global development.

When Kimi K3 launched in July 2026, a Silicon Valley notable asked a pointed question: Why didn't Yang Zhilin stay in the United States? The post exploded, racking up 7.47 million views in four days. The reality is, Yang's choice is far from unique. In recent years, top AI talent has been flowing back from the US to China.

The Economist crunched the numbers for NeurIPS, a premier AI conference. The share of authors from China jumped from 29% in 2019 to 51% in 2025. Over the same period, the US share slid from 20% to 12%. Meanwhile, a US survey revealed that 73% of Chinese-American scientists feel unsafe as researchers, and 65% fear hate and violence against Asians.

China's tech sector isn't just attractive. It's lucrative. The data backs it up: China's AI ecosystem is gaining appeal in capital, policy, market size, and application scenarios）. Riding the Kimi K3 wave, Moonshot AI closed four funding rounds in the first half of 2026, pulling in over $3.9 billion.

Salakhutdinov put it bluntly: The US didn't lose someone who was forced out. It lost someone who simply didn't want to stay. Yang's return to China underscores a hard truth. If America insists on decoupling from China, the price tag keeps climbing. Right now, the US still leads in AI infrastructure like semiconductors and data centers. But talent is the real engine of AI development. And there, America's disadvantage may be far worse than it thinks.

The Cost of Xenophobia: America's Self-Inflicted Wound

The Nikkei highlights another gravitational pull: the IPO dream. If Moonshot AI and DeepSeek can list in mainland China or Hong Kong, they will become new entrepreneurial icons. That could accelerate the trend of Chinese AI talent chasing success at home rather than in the United States.

Some in the US venture capital community are already urging a course correction. They argue America should be rolling out the red carpet for Chinese talent, including helping their families relocate.

Instead, the industry sees the Trump administration's chaotic anti-China policies for what they are: a self-defeating campaign of 'driving talent away.'

Postscript: Forget the 'Qian Xuesen mystery.' The real puzzle is the 'American mystery.' A New York Times article from June 5 last year, titled 'The U.S. Deported This Chinese Scientist, in a Decision That Changed World History,' tore into the Trump administration. It reported that Secretary of State Rubio  "turned up the pressure, announcing that the administration would work to 'aggressively revoke' visas of Chinese students, including those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party or who are studying in 'critical fields.'".

Consider the scale: the United States hosts one million foreign students. More than 250,000 of them are Chinese.

Qian Xuesen was unreasonably treated by the US government and finally had to leave. America learned nothing. Now, beset by troubles at home and abroad, instead of striving to improve, it reaches for xenophobia as a weapon.

And yet the United States still sees itself as the world's strongest. A real unfathomable mystery!