Hong Kong: China 'anxious' as world watches Jimmy Lai trial

The long-awaited trial of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai began on Monday morning, with a significant police presence deployed outside the courthouse.

Dozens of people queued up for the hearing; some had even arrived before dawn. They were here to see the 76-year-old defendant who was arrested in August 2020 under a sweeping national security law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing the same year.

Initially scheduled to start more than a year ago, the trial has been postponed several times. 

As the founder of Apple Daily — a popular news outlet critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — Lai was charged with conspiring to collude with foreign forces and publish seditious material.

His son Sebastien Lai, who has been traveling the world to seek international support, regards the trial as a "show" for Beijing to silence dissidents. "This is clearly a means to put the whole of Hong Kong in fear, so that you will no longer speak out for democracy and be afraid of criticizing the government," he told DW.

Concerns for Lai's health 

The trial, which was expected to begin without a jury, could last up to 80 days. Lai faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Given his advanced age, even short sentences in jail pose a great risk to his health, "I am worried that my dad will pass away (in prison)," Sebastien Lai said.

His father has already been behind bars for over three years. A request for bail was denied and the initial plan to hire a British lawyer, Timothy Owen, also failed after Beijing's intervention. On December 30 of last year, China gave Chief Executive of Hong Kong John Lee the power to bar foreign lawyers, such as Owen, from cases related to national security.

In late 2021, Lai received a 13-month jail term for charges of involvement in a banned vigil for the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Last year, on a separate count, he was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to five years and nine months in prison.

"The [Chinese] government has tried every effort to keep him out of the public scene," Eric Lai, a research fellow at Center for Asian Law of Georgetown University (GCAL), told DW.

The media mogul was known as one of the CCP's most outspoken critics. Apple Daily — before being raided by the police and subsequently shut down in 2021 — was particularly vocal about the territory's pro-democracy movement.

His arrest was part of the sweeping crackdown on press freedom and civil liberties in Hong Kong following the 2019 pro-democracy protests, which were sparked by the government's decision to introduce a bill to facilitate the extradition of criminal suspects to mainland China.

China anxious about global attention

Ahead of the trial, calls for the immediate release of Jimmy Lai grew stronger, from human rights groups to foreign governments.

Just one day before the trial began, the United Kingdom and the United States both urged the Chinese authorities to end their prosecution and release Lai. Earlier, the Canadian parliament had also released a "unanimous" motion calling for his release, following a similar demand made by the European Parliament.

Of all the international support, the UK's statement is considered particularly critical as Lai holds British citizenship. Last week, Sebastien Lai met British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who promised that London would "stand by Jimmy Lai and the people of HK," according to an official post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In response, the Chinese embassy in London strongly criticized the meeting, claiming it had "further exposed Jimmy Lai's long-term collusion with the UK side."

The significant public attention on the case appears to have made the Chinese authorities uneasy, analyst Eric Lai said.

On Friday, Hong Kong police released a new bounty list of five overseas activists accused of violating the national security law. At the same time, the Hong Kong Security Bureau announced strict guidelines for visitors entering the court and said that inspections would include X-ray checks.

Announcing a bounty list can be a way to divert international attention, Lai from GCAL said: "All these tactics by the government reflect they are very anxious [about] Jimmy Lai's popularity."

What to expect from the high-profile trial?

Lai's trial, which is expected to be the first where a defendant pleads not guilty for "colluding with foreign forces," is believed to be an example of how the national security law has fundamentally changed criminal proceedings in Hong Kong.

In addition to being denied access to an overseas lawyer and bail, Lai will also face judges handpicked by Hong Kong Chief Executive  John Lee. Eric Lai also said that some of the witnesses were "tainted" given the fact that they were defendants themselves and had been in pre-trial detention for more than two years.

"This will, of course, create a high level of stress on them [witnesses]," he said, highlighting that these conditions could make a trial "more unfair than before."

Since Lai's case is "highly politicized," the Hong Kong researcher suggested it would be worth noting whether authorities from the territory or Beijing would intervene, as they have done before, by interpreting basic laws in court.

Sebastien 'proud' of his father

Sebastien Lai feels "torn" about his father's decision to remain in Hong Kong before his arrest. "He obviously loves Hong Kong," he told DW. "He wants to stand beside Hong Kong people and defend freedom together with journalists."

"I am incredibly proud that he's my father," he added. "I will always keep campaigning for him."

DW's Correspondent Phoebe Kong contributed to this report.

Edited by: John Silk