\n Her father, 78, now faces the possibility of life in prison after his two-year trial under a sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on the city following months of huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests.\n <\/p>\n
\n Self-made billionaire Lai, founded a fiercely pro-democracy tabloid newspaper known for its blistering broadsides against the Chinese Communist Party until its forced closure in 2021.\n <\/p>\n
\n Prosecutors cited Lai\u2019s lobbying of US politicians during Trump\u2019s first term \u2013 much of it before the security law was enacted \u2013 as evidence of sedition and colluding with foreign forces, including his meetings with then-Vice President Mike Pence, then-State Secretary Mike Pompeo, and attempts to meet Trump himself.\n <\/p>\n
\n Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly rejected claims Lai\u2019s trial was politically motivated and maintain the city\u2019s judicial system adheres to the rule of law.\n <\/p>\n
\n Lai\u2019s daughter, Claire Lai, told CNN\u2019s Jim Sciutto that Monday\u2019s verdict was expected but devastating, calling the national security law extremely vague, draconian and arbitrary.\n <\/p>\n
![\"Jonathan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/still-22203971-2646319-344-still.jpg\")
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\n \u201cThis was not going to be solved in the once promising but now highly compromised Hong Kong legal system,\u201d she said, adding the 855-page verdict failed to meaningfully engage with free press or fundamental rights protections.\n <\/p>\n
\n Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997, has a separate judicial system to that of mainland China \u2013 which has a conviction rate above 99%.\n <\/p>\n
\n Critics fear the national security law has brought what they describe as Beijing\u2019s authoritarian and opaque judicial norms to Hong Kong, with all national security trials so far heard by a panel of specially selected judges, not juries \u2013 a departure from the city\u2019s common-law tradition when dealing with serious cases.\n <\/p>\n
\n Human rights barrister Jonathan Price KC, part of Lai\u2019s international legal team, described the court proceedings as a \u201cperformative process\u201d that began with Lai\u2019s arrest in 2020 and culminated in what he called a predetermined verdict.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe legal reasoning is scarce to say the least, if not non-existent,\u201d Price said.\n <\/p>\n
\n In response, Hong Kong authorities said the court \u201cclearly pointed out in the reasons for verdict that Lai Chee-ying (Jimmy Lai) was not on trial for his political views or beliefs,\u201d adding that the 855-page ruling is \u201cfully open for public inspection\u201d and \u201cmeticulously explains the court\u2019s analysis of the relevant legal principles and evidence.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n The Hong Kong government also defended the city\u2019s legal system, saying, \u201cHong Kong is a society underpinned by the rule of law and has always adhered to the principle that laws must be obeyed, and lawbreakers be held accountable.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n The family says Lai\u2019s health has sharply deteriorated during the five years he has been imprisoned. Claire Lai said her father has lost more than 10 kilograms in less than a year and now suffers from diabetes, heart issues, high blood pressure, failing eyesight and hearing, and other visible ailments.\n <\/p>\n
![\"TOPSHOT](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/231215095146-05-jimmy-lai-gallery.jpg\")
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\n \u201cMy father, he was strong and robust\u2026 and he was quite known for that as well. And now he\u2019s lost a dramatic amount of weight,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Hong Kong authorities disputed those concerns, saying Lai has received \u201cadequate and comprehensive\u201d medical care while in custody.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cProfessional medical staff provide the most suitable healthcare services to patients, and all PICs (person in custody) are treated equally. Senior counsel representing Lai Chee-ying also clearly informed the court that the correctional institution arranged daily medical check-ups for Lai Chee-ying and that Lai Chee-ying had made no complaints about the medical services received while in custody. The court commended the CSD (Correctional Services Department) for its work.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Asked whether the Chinese government intends for Lai to die in prison, Price warned that any sentence imposed could effectively amount to a life sentence.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe maximum is life in prison, and they could impose that. And he was 78 last week. Any one of those sentences amounts in effect to a life sentence, and we\u2019ll see him die behind bars.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Lai was born in mainland China and arrived in British-ruled Hong Kong at 12 years old, working his way up from factory laborer to clothing tycoon.\n <\/p>\n
\n He then pivoted to media and founded Apple Daily in 1995, two years before Hong Kong was handed over to China. The outspoken publisher and his newspaper were at the forefront of the city\u2019s pro-democracy movement, particularly in the decade leading up to the mass anti-government protests in 2019.\n <\/p>\n
\n A vocal supporter of Trump, Lai traveled to Washington at the height of the 2019 protests, meeting with Pence<\/a> and other US politicians<\/a> to discuss the situation.\n <\/p>\n \n At the time, massive demonstrations sparked by a controversial piece of legislation were drawing hundreds of thousands onto the streets \u2013 many of whom feared that Beijing could encroach on the city\u2019s autonomy and rare freedoms of speech, press and assembly.\n <\/p>\n \n Price noted that they have seen an immense amount of international support for Lai\u2019s case. President Donald Trump has said he raised Lai\u2019s case with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, fueling hopes among supporters that diplomatic pressure could secure his release.\n <\/p>\n \n Claire Lai said she believes the president\u2019s efforts could lead to her father\u2019s release.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe\u2019re so grateful for him to show ongoing concern. Now that he\u2019s wrongfully convicted, (it) really gives us a great amount of hope.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n In a statement, the Hong Kong government said it \u201cstrongly demands foreign countries to immediately stop acting against the international law and basic norms of international relations and interfering in China\u2019s internal affairs and Hong Kong affairs.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n China\u2019s foreign ministry spokesperson also issued the following statement: \u201cHong Kong affairs are purely China\u2019s internal matters. The media should respect the rule of law in Hong Kong and refrain from interfering in ongoing judicial cases. As a serious media outlet, CNN should remain objective and neutral, report facts rationally, and accurately and comprehensively represent the positions of China, including that of the Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region) government.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Despite the verdict, Claire Lai said her family will continue to fight.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe\u2019re still grieving,\u201d she said. \u201cBut one thing that our father has taught us is that we should face any adversity, any sort of difficulty with a certain amount of cheer and a certain amount of spirit, so that\u2019s what we try to do.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Washington, D.C \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 The guilty verdict handed down this week to Hong Kong media tycoon and democracy advocate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-350594","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Claire](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/c-ap25349696112078.jpg\")
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