Following the upcoming court verdict on whether Lai would eventually be found guilty and convicted for going against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and campaigning for civil rights and democracy in Hong Kong, the world would soon learn the extent to which Hong Kong is under the repressive yoke of the CCP and whether Lai would taste freedom again.
The dust will soon settle regarding the ultimate fate of imprisoned Roman Catholic and anti-communist advocate Jimmy Lai. After around 21 arduous months, Lai’s national security trial is wrapping up in Hong Kong. Following the upcoming court verdict on whether Lai would eventually be found guilty and convicted for going against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and campaigning for civil rights and democracy in Hong Kong, the world would soon learn the extent to which Hong Kong is under the repressive yoke of the CCP and whether Lai would taste freedom again.
Despite previously assuring Britain that Beijing would respect Hong Kong’s basic freedoms even after Hong Kong were to be handed over to mainland China, the CCP has reneged on its promises. Events in the past decade, particularly since 2020 after a controversial national security law (NSL) was imposed, have shown the CCP’s determination to keep Hong Kong under its authoritarian thumb.
Sebastien lambasted the ongoing court trial involving his father. “It’s a textbook example of a show trial, of the weaponization of the legal system.”
It was under this draconian NSL that Lai was arrested in August 2020, and he has since been kept behind bars from December of that same year. Notably, Lai has refused to plead guilty to two charges of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and one count of conspiring to publish seditious materials. Yet if the Hong Kong court overseeing Lai’s trial declares him guilty, Lai could spend his last days in prison.
Although the closing arguments for Lai’s trial started on August 18 this year, they continue to be postponed on various pretexts, such as heavy rains and Lai’s deteriorating health.
In remarks cited by AFP, defense lawyer Robert Pang stated that Lai experienced heart “palpitations”, as well as the feeling of “collapsing”.
Strikingly, concerns have hitherto been raised regarding Lai’s ailing health, with his son Sebastien urging the British government to step up efforts regarding his father’s case, as Lai is a British citizen.
Sebastien cautioned the British government that if it fails to act, “my father is most likely going to die in jail”.
“I don’t want my father to die in jail,” the younger Lai said of his father, who has been kept in solitary confinement for around 1700 days.
In a recent interview with EWTN, Sebastien lambasted the ongoing court trial involving his father.
“It’s a textbook example of a show trial, of the weaponization of the legal system.”
Adding, Sebastien declared that the evidence produced against his father “all turned out to be completely untrue,” saying: “My father is in prison because of his journalism and because of his courage. Because he stayed to defend his people, because he dared to campaign for democracy and for human rights in Hong Kong. And that didn’t sit well with the Hong Kong government.”
Recently, US President Donald Trump also proclaimed on a Fox News interview that he has already broached the subject of Lai’s imprisonment with CCP authoritarian leader Xi Jinping.
Trump advocated for Lai and told a Fox News radio program on Aug. 14 that he had previously brought up the Lai case with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“I’m going to do everything I can to save him … you could also understand President Xi would not be exactly thrilled,” Fox News quoted Trump.
Humanly speaking, the prospects for Lai’s release from the CCP’s clutches remain bleak. For one, in a stark break from precedent, the court overseeing his trial consists of carefully nominated judges instead of a jury, meaning that the odds that the court would rule in favor of Lai remain slim.
Moreover, the CCP’s track record for punishing political dissidents has demonstrated a lack of clemency. For years, many of China’s political prisoners, such as Catholic bishops and laity faithful to the Holy See, Uyghur Muslims, as well as Falun Gong practitioners, have disappeared or perished under the CCP’s watch. Also, in November 2024, a Hong Kong court sentenced 45 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists to 4 to 10 years in prison under the NSL.
However, some observers have contended that Beijing might ultimately consider the political costs of Lai’s imprisonment and take into account intervention to avoid making him a martyr.
Despite the CCP’s relentless persecution, Lai’s Catholic Faith has been indispensable to his resilience amid harsh imprisonment conditions. Previously, I penned an article for The Remnant on how Lai’s unshakeable Faith has been keeping him grounded all these years, despite being cruelly denied Our Lord Jesus Christ in Holy Communion in prison.
“In the end of the day the truth will come out in the kingdom of God, and that is good enough for me,” the elder Lai said to CCP-appointed judges at a court hearing, in comments cited by the New York Post.
“And fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell”. (Matthew 10:28).
Indeed, the CCP’s treatment of Lai does not merely reflect its desire to quell political freedoms, but also the freedom to practise the Catholic religion in Hong Kong. In this light, Lai is not alone in getting persecuted for his beliefs. The prelate who baptized him, Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, another outspoken critic of the CCP regime, has been curtailed and persecuted by Beijing numerous times. Yet Cardinal Zen’s courage in standing up to the CCP authorities, publicly defending the Catholic religion and endorsing the Traditional Latin Mass, have not escaped global media attention.
As the world watches Lai’s trial approach its current uncertain conclusion with bated breath, the prayers and voices of the global Catholic community are essential. Regardless how the court eventually rules, may Lai’s hope in the kingdom of God continue to sustain him, come what may.
Mary, Mother of persecuted Christians, pray for us.
