A Hong Kong court found democracy activist and media tycoon Jimmy Lai guilty of colluding with foreign forces to undermine national security, the latest sign of the city’s shrinking tolerance for dissent.
The court said Lai had used his now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper to lobby foreign governments to impose sanctions on China during Hong Kong’s 2019 pro-democracy protests. He faces life in prison.
Lai’s arrest poses a critical test for US President Donald Trump, who said freeing him would be “easy.”
A biographer of Lai’s argued that Trump should make the case that liberating him “would yield tangible benefits for Beijing” as China looks to reassert Hong Kong’s place as a global financial capital.