U.S. outraged as Hong Kong jails Jimmy Lai for 20 years in political crackdown

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

The United States has sharply criticised a Hong Kong court’s decision to sentence pro-democracy activist and media tycoon Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison, calling it an “unjust and tragic” outcome that underscores Beijing’s aggressive suppression of freedoms in the former British colony.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio led the charge, highlighting the case as a blatant violation of China’s international commitments and pressing for Lai’s immediate release on humanitarian grounds.

In a press statement issued shortly after the verdict, Rubio described the sentencing as evidence that “Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, casting aside the international commitments Beijing made in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.”

Noting that the 78-year-old Lai has already endured over five years in detention and a grueling two-year trial, Rubio emphasized, “Mr. Lai and his family have suffered enough. The United States urges the authorities to grant Mr. Lai humanitarian parole.”

The harsh penalty, handed down under Hong Kong’s national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, has reignited concerns in Washington about the erosion of the city’s autonomy and press freedoms.

Lai, a British citizen and founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was convicted in December 2025 on charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and publish seditious materials, allegations his supporters dismiss as politically motivated.

Critics, including U.S. officials, argue the law has been weaponized to dismantle opposition following the 2019 pro-democracy protests.

The verdict has drawn bipartisan outrage from U.S. lawmakers, amplifying calls for stronger action against China.

Republican Senator Rick Scott, a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), condemned the sentence as an injustice against his “friend” Lai, who was punished for “daring to think differently from the CCP and refusing to use his newspaper to spread CCP propaganda.”

Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, who nominated Lai for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023, stated that the sentencing “should put to rest any illusion that the Chinese government will relent until it exercises total control over the people of Hong Kong.”

Republican Congressman John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on China, tied Lai’s fate directly to U.S.-China relations, asserting that if President Xi Jinping “wants to improve his relationship with the United States, freeing Jimmy Lai is where he needs to start.”