Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven have condemned the prosecution of Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai, prompting a sharp rebuke from Beijing, which dismissed the statement as foreign meddling in China’s internal affairs.
On Monday, a panel of three Hong Kong judges found the 78-year-old founder of Apple Daily guilty of two counts of conspiring with foreign forces to endanger national security, as well as one count of conspiracy to publish seditious material. Lai faces a possible life sentence when he is formally sentenced early next year.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, G7 members, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, called on Hong Kong authorities to “end such prosecutions and to release Jimmy Lai immediately”.
“We continue to express our concerns about deteriorating rights, freedoms and autonomy in Hong Kong,” the statement said.
China reacted swiftly. State-run Global Times quoted an unnamed spokesperson from the Chinese embassy in Canada who described the G7’s intervention as a “crude interference in China’s internal affairs” and a “serious violation of the basic norms governing international relations”.
“We urge the relevant parties to respect China’s sovereignty and Hong Kong’s rule of law, and to immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong’s judicial affairs and China’s internal affairs,” the spokesperson said.
Lai, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, has been in detention for five years following his arrest during the mass pro-democracy protests that swept Hong Kong in 2019 and 2020.
His case is the most prominent prosecution under the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, which criminalised secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. Critics say the law has been used to crush dissent and dismantle political freedoms promised to Hong Kong under the “one country, two systems” framework.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced support for Lai, saying he would try to “save” him, while other Western governments have condemned the trial as politically motivated.
Beijing and Hong Kong authorities insist otherwise. The Chinese embassy said on Wednesday that “everyone is equal before the law” and portrayed Lai as a central figure in what it described as anti-China destabilisation.
“Jimmy Lai is a principal planner and participant in a series of major anti-China, destabilising activities in [Hong Kong]. His crimes are well documented and the harm he has caused is grave,” the spokesperson said. “The judicial authorities of [Hong Kong] have performed their duties in accordance with the law, upheld the authority of the law, and safeguarded national security. This is reasonable, lawful, and beyond reproach.”
Lai is due back in court on January 12 for a pre-sentencing hearing.
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