Hong Kong: Jimmy Lai’s Trial Begins

Jimmy Lai arrived under guard in the courtroom of the Hong Kong court on December 18, 2023. Outside, several dozen of his supporters defied the ban from the authorities, subject to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in order to show their support for the 76-year-old entrepreneur, incarcerated since the end of 2020.

It is a “parody” of justice and a “trial worthy of Stalin” according to Lord David Alton, a Catholic jurist from Liverpool, United Kingdom, famous for having taken up, from the very first hour, the defense of the dissident of the former British possession. For him, there is no doubt that it is the “CCP that should be taken to court, not Jimmy Lai.”

For the record, Mr. Lai was arrested and imprisoned for having participated in a banned vigil commemorating the Tiananmen Square massacre (1989), but Beijing mainly accuses him of having used his newspaper, Apple Daily, to engage in vigorous criticism of the methods of communist power. 

International Reactions

The day before the trial opened, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he was “gravely concerned” for those facing prosecution under the national security law the Chinese enacted in Hong Kong, and which allows them to suppress any opposition.

It is a way of taking a stand in favor of Jimmy Lai who also has British nationality. For its part, the American Congress asked the Biden administration to take new sanctions in the event that the Catholic dissident is not released as soon as possible.

But it will take more to move Beijing. The Chinese embassy in London strongly rejected David Cameron's statement, arguing that the United Kingdom was thus backing an “anti-China, Hong Kong destabilizer who broke the law,” which it said “constitutes flagrant interference in a case that has already entered judicial proceedings.”

Silence from the Vatican

Until now, the Holy See has remained in deafening silence on this yet symbolic affair, entangled by the recent declarations of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding the “blessing” of “homosexual couples,” and preferring protect “whatever the cost” its controversial provisional agreement signed with Beijing in 2018, an agreement which has largely demonstrated its limits.

Furthermore, Francis's trip to Kazakhstan, a little over a year ago, clearly showed that the Pope still hoped to visit the Middle Kingdom, which explained his silence on the Hong Kong events, even when Cardinal Joseph Zen had himself been arrested.

Only the latter, at almost 92 years of age, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, and currently on bail for having violated the National Security Law, was present at the opening of the trial on December 18 to show his support for his co-religionist and friend. Unless there is a twist, Jimmy Lai could spend the rest of his life in prison.