Hong Kong press groups silent on jailing of media tycoon Jimmy Lai

2026-02-09 - 07:37

Neither the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) nor the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) has posted statements on Monday’s jailing of media tycoon Jimmy Lai. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong. Photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP. When approached by HKFP after the Apple Daily founder was sentenced to 20 years behind bars, FCC President Morgan Davis said they had “no comment at this time,” whilst HKJA Chair Selina Cheng said she was “unable to speak freely about the sentencing.” Lai was jailed on Monday, around two months after he was convicted on foreign collusion and sedition charges, under the Beijing-imposed national security law. The 78-year-old was accused of using his tabloid, Apple Daily, to lobby foreign nations to impose sanctions, blockades, or other hostile activities upon China and Hong Kong. He was also accused of inciting hatred against the authorities with 161 op-eds he allegedly wrote and published in the now-shuttered newspaper. HKJA under fire Selina Cheng, the chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, on September 13, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. When Lai was found guilty in December, the authorities accused the HKJA of “whitewashing” his actions in a since-removed statement. The government claimed the group had conducted the “subversive work of brainwashing” youngsters, after it expressed regret over the verdict. Explainer: What does the HKJA actually do? Security chief Chris Tang has repeatedly hit out at the city’s embattled press union. In 2021, he claimed it was “breaching professional ethics,” casting doubt over its representativeness and credibility, weeks after the state-backed press labelled it an amoral “anti-government political organisation.” Press club statements In 2018, the FCC, which hosts members including foreign journalists, diplomats and financiers, came under fire for inviting pro-independence activist Andy Chan to speak at a panel event. Then-vice president Victor Mallet, who chaired Chan’s talk, was refused a work visa renewal in October that year. Following the implementation of the national security law in 2020, the club cancelled its Human Rights Press Awards in 2022, citing “significant areas of uncertainty” under the law. The FCC has published fewer statements concerning press freedom in Hong Kong in recent years. The last occasion was in August last year, when the FCC aired concerns about the “erosion of press freedom in Hong Kong” after Bloomberg journalist Rebecca Choong Wilkins was denied a work visa renewal by the government without being given a reason. On December 7, the FCC told HKFP it would not be commenting on a meeting Beijing’s Office for Safeguarding National Security held with international media representatives earlier that month. It did not comment when Lai was found guilty days later. The club was granted a new lease on its government premises on January 2. Int’l watchdogs condemn verdict The director general of NGO Reporters Without Borders, Thibaut Bruttin, condemned the sentencing on Monday as a “sham” and said the curtain had fallen on press freedom in Hong Kong. “This court decision underscores the complete collapse of press freedom in Hong Kong and the authorities’ profound contempt for independent journalism,” he said in a press release. Meanwhile, Committee to Protect Journalists CEO Jodie Ginsberg said: “The rule of law has been completely shattered in Hong Kong... Today’s egregious decision is the final nail in the coffin for freedom of the press in Hong Kong. The international community must step up its pressure to free Jimmy Lai if we want press freedom to be respected anywhere in the world.” Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said the 20-year term was “effectively a death sentence,” and “both cruel and profoundly unjust.” Overseas NGOs, the Hong Kong Centre for Human Rights and Hong Kong Media Overseas, also condemned the sentencing. DAB flags flying in Kennedy Town during the 2021 Legislative Council election nomination period. File Photo: Selina Cheng/HKFP. However, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), Hong Kong’s largest pro-Beijing party, said on Monday that the evidence against Lia was “resounding and his punishment is well-deserved.” “The focus of Jimmy Lai’s case is how he colluded with American and Western forces to endanger national security. During the trial, large amounts of evidence showed Lai’s many crimes... including using a media platform to urge foreign powers to intervene in Hong Kong affairs, sanction Chinese and Hong Kong officials, and even bribing former high-ranking officials to advance his so-called ‘anti-China master plan.'” Speaking on Monday, shortly after Jimmy Lai’s sentencing hearing, Chief Superintendent Steve Li of the police’s National Security Department welcomed the court’s “imposition of a heavy sentence” on the Apple Daily founder. Press freedom concerns Hong Kong has plummeted in international press freedom indices since the onset of the 2020 and 2024 security laws. Watchdogs cite the arrest and jailing of journalists, raids on newsrooms and the closure of around 10 media outlets including Apple Daily, Stand News and Citizen News. Over 1,000 journalists have lost their jobs, whilst many have emigrated. Meanwhile, the city’s government-funded broadcaster RTHK has adopted new editorial guidelines, purged its archives and axed news and satirical shows. See also: Explainer: Hong Kong’s press freedom under the national security law In 2022, Chief Executive John Lee said press freedom was “in the pocket” of Hongkongers but “nobody is above the law.” Although he has told the press to “tell a good Hong Kong story,” government departments have been reluctant to respond to story pitches.