On Monday, Hong Kong’s High Court found 78-year-old Jimmy Lai — a business and media tycoon, pro-democracy torchbearer, and critic of Beijing — guilty of two counts of “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” and one count of sedition.
Lai, now facing the possibility of life in prison, was arrested in 2020 under Beijing’s National Security Law (NSL), a sweeping set of laws broadly targeting separatism, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign or external forces. Prosecutors accused Lai of “masterminding” the 2019 Hong Kong protests, among other accusations. (Lai pleaded not guilty to all charges.)
Reporters Without Borders registered its “outrage” over the decision, calling the judicial process "a sham trial.” In 2024, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that Lai was “unlawfully and arbitrarily detained.”
Lai is a British citizen; the U.K.’s foreign secretary called his conviction “politically motivated” and called for his immediate release.
According to The Economist, members of the public were seen eating apples outside the courtroom, presumably in a show of support for Lai, who founded Apple Daily in 1995.
‘Resetting’ without retreating
One day after Lai’s conviction, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand posted on social media that Canada “condemns [Lai’s] politically motivated prosecution.” Ottawa did not issue a standalone formal statement, waiting instead until Wednesday to release a joint G7 statement condemning the conviction.
In 2023, Canadian Parliamentarians passed unanimous motions urging Hong Kong authorities to release Lai.
The federal government reportedly asked Liberal MP Judy Sgro to “shelve” her June 2025 motion to grant Lai honorary Canadian citizenship. In September, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and later stated his desire for a bilateral "reset."
