Lai, 78, is an outspoken critic of China’s ruling Communist Party who was arrested in 2020 under a national security law following massive anti-government protests that rocked Hong Kong the year before. His arrest and the closure of his Apple Daily newspaper, a tabloid-style publication that backed the democracy movement, dealt a blow to free speech in a city that was once a bastion of press freedom in Asia.
tirsdag 16. desember 2025
Jimmy Lai is a Hong Kong rags-to-riches media tycoon who became a fierce critic of Beijing
To his supporters, former media mogul Jimmy Lai is a fighter for democracy. To his opponents, he’s a traitor to his motherland. Now, he could face life in prison after being convicted of conspiracies to commit sedition and collusion with foreign forces in a landmark trial that began in 2023.
Lai, 78, is an outspoken critic of China’s ruling Communist Party who was arrested in 2020 under a national security law following massive anti-government protests that rocked Hong Kong the year before. His arrest and the closure of his Apple Daily newspaper, a tabloid-style publication that backed the democracy movement, dealt a blow to free speech in a city that was once a bastion of press freedom in Asia.
Lai, 78, is an outspoken critic of China’s ruling Communist Party who was arrested in 2020 under a national security law following massive anti-government protests that rocked Hong Kong the year before. His arrest and the closure of his Apple Daily newspaper, a tabloid-style publication that backed the democracy movement, dealt a blow to free speech in a city that was once a bastion of press freedom in Asia.
