On the 20-Year Sentencing of Jimmy Lai

Statement by Samuel Chu, President of The Campaign for Hong Kong

The 20-year sentence handed down to Jimmy Lai is not justice — it is retroactive retribution. Authorities have reached back years to criminalize ordinary journalism, public advocacy, and global engagement, rewriting the past to punish a man whose only offense was refusing to abandon the truth.

This sentence exposes the National Security Law for what it has become: a tool to settle scores, not a framework for public safety. By turning peaceful expression into a retrospective crime, the government has made clear that anyone — journalist, activist, or citizen — can be targeted whenever it becomes politically useful. That is not the rule of law; that is rule by vengeance.

For the United States, the European Union, and democratic partners, this moment demands more than concern. It requires recognizing that Lai’s case sits at the center of a broader campaign of intimidation — one that extends beyond Hong Kong and into diaspora communities worldwide through escalating forms of transnational repression.

We call for coordinated diplomatic pressure, a unified demand for Lai’s humanitarian release, and targeted consequences for those responsible for this prosecution. Retroactive punishment cannot be allowed to stand as a new global norm.

To Jimmy Lai: your voice continues to resonate despite every effort to erase it. To his family — who have carried the weight of this ordeal with extraordinary courage — your steadfastness is a reminder that this fight is not his alone, and not in vain. To Hongkongers everywhere: the world is watching, and we stand with you.

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