Britain's Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has summoned the Chinese ambassador after a Hong Kong court convicted British citizen Jimmy Lai of sedition and conspiracy under Beijing's national security law. Cooper condemned the prosecution as "politically motivated" and demanded the 78-year-old media tycoon's immediate release, warning he faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison.
Lai, founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper and a prominent pro-democracy activist, was found guilty on Monday following a trial that has intensified diplomatic tensions between London and Beijing. Cooper told the House of Commons: «Jimmy Lai is a British citizen. He has been targeted by the Chinese and Hong Kong governments for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. This was a politically motivated prosecution, which I strongly condemn.»
The Foreign Secretary instructed officials to summon the Chinese ambassador «to underline our position in the strongest terms.» Downing Street confirmed Lai's case remains a government priority, with officials continuing to appeal for his release and access to medical treatment ahead of sentencing.
Son Demands Action as Precondition
Lai's son, Sebastien, who attended the Commons debate, pressed the government to make his father's release a precondition for closer UK-China relations. Speaking to the Press Association, he said: «I hope that the Foreign Secretary understands that, I'm sure she does, and put actions behind words, make my father's case a precondition of closer relationships with China. [...] The core responsibility of government is to protect one's people, and here you have my father, whose rights are being violated, who has been kept in limbo, finally having a verdict now after five years of solitary confinement, and he's a British citizen.»
He described the 800-page judgment as containing «essentially nothing – there's nothing that incriminates him, there's nothing that even under their own legal system would make him guilty.»
Visit to China Sparks Political Row
The conviction has fueled debate over Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's planned visit to China next January. Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel called the trial a «political show trial» and «an outrage to democracy, personal freedom and liberty,» urging the government to «send a signal of our disgust to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) by cancelling the Prime Minister's planned visit to China next January, unless Jimmy Lai is released.»
Cooper rejected calls to cancel the visit, arguing: «We do not see this simply as a foreign policy matter, we see this as a matter that affects the entire Government relationship as well. [...] What we need to do is to ensure that we are conveying the strength of our feeling.» A Downing Street spokesman said the UK «cannot shy away from engagement» with China.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, leading Lai's international legal team, warned the PM's Beijing visit would be a «pivotal moment.» She expressed concern about a «headlong rush into closer and closer relations without ensuring that our core interests are protected, including, in particular, a British national detained behind bars.»
From Press Freedom to Prison
Lai founded Apple Daily, a newspaper known for its fierce criticism of the Chinese government, and has been detained since his 2020 arrest under the national security law introduced after Hong Kong's 2019 anti-government protests. He has spent much of that time in solitary confinement and reportedly suffers from heart issues. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Sarah Brooks, China director at Amnesty International, described the conviction as devastating for press freedom: «The predictability of today's verdict does not make it any less dismaying – the conviction of Jimmy Lai feels like the death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong, where the essential work of journalism has been rebranded as a crime. Lai has been jailed simply because he and his Apple Daily newspaper criticised the government. The activities for which he has been convicted would never have been considered crimes before the 2020 National Security Law was enacted.»
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arbitrary Detention and Hostage Affairs criticized the UK government's handling of the case, noting that while the United States, Canada and Australia have secured the release of nationals from arbitrary detention in China and Hong Kong, «the UK has failed to do so despite the unique relationship between the UK and Hong Kong enshrined in international obligations in the Basic Law.»
The Hong Kong court will determine Lai's sentence in mid-January.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
