Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-shuttered Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday on charges of sedition and foreign collusion. Six other Apple Daily staff members also received sentences of up to 10 years. Extensive coverage at Hong Kong Free Press describes the background of the case and reactions to the sentence from former Apple Daily staff, NGOs, and foreign and local governments, as well as the notable silence of Hong Kong press groups.

CDT Chinese highlighted coverage from the Singapore-based Initium Media, but was otherwise able to identify and archive only a single WeChat post offering independent commentary on the sentencing. In an apparent attempt to evade censorship, legal blogger Li Yuchen almost entirely omits proper nouns in his account of Lai’s sentencing: Lai is referred to as 老人 lǎorén, or "the old man"; Apple Daily as 那份报纸 nà fèn bàozhǐ, or "that newspaper"; and others by their job titles or relationships to Lai. Even "Hong Kong" is never mentioned by name, only as 那座城市 nà zuò chéngshì, or "that city." Nevertheless, the post was deleted. Excerpts are translated below:

He’s 78 this year. If he serves the full sentence, he’ll be 98 when he’s released.

His daughter says that his health has sharply deteriorated over the past five years. If the full sentence is imposed, "He will die in prison."

His son says that for the family as a whole, the sentence is "a catastrophic blow."

[…] Also present in court was a former employee of the newspaper, who knew many of those being sentenced.

She said the old man’s sentence was "tantamount to life imprisonment."

All the sentences, she added, were "heavier than we could have imagined," especially those of the three staff members who "did not play key roles" but did not testify against him, and were each sentenced to 10 years.

"Everyone will ask: how did it come to this?"

She said she personally felt it was "wrong," "an injustice," and "incomprehensible," because each of those sentenced had simply been carrying out typical media work.

"There was leeway within the law, but [the judge] went for the harshest option."

A former chair of the Journalists’ Association described the outcome as "quite discouraging and depressing."

He said self-censorship in the media is getting steadily worse, and that journalists would conclude from the sentences that working with people disfavored by the government could land them in prison for 10 years.

“Will any young people still be willing to join the industry?” he asked.

That newspaper was founded in 1995.

It was celebrated for criticizing the government, and became the territory’s best-selling paper.

In June 2021, it was forced to shut down, its newsroom raided, its editor-in-chief arrested, and its assets frozen.

26 years after it launched, its final daily edition sold a million copies.

Five years elapsed between its closure and the sentencing.

At 4:40 a.m. on the morning of the sentencing, a woman who was waiting in line to attend was taken away by police.

Why? Because she was wearing a keychain from that newspaper.

The newspaper hasn’t been in print for five years, but its keychain remains a dangerous symbol.

After the session, the old man’s wife wept outside the court. Members of the public embraced each other, saying that nothing could be done.

The old man himself calmly left the courtroom after the sentencing, his face nearly devoid of expression.

Only the [former] managing editor of the newspaper’s English edition tried to stay behind, attempting to make eye contact with people in the public gallery.

His sentence was ten years, because he had not testified against his boss.

The old man was born in Guangdong in 1947. At the age of 12, he stole across the border to that city.

According to his autobiography, a stranger at Guangzhou Railway Station gave him a piece of chocolate. This was the first time he had ever tasted it. He said later that it tasted like freedom.

He worked as a child laborer in a garment factory, and worked his way up until finally starting his own brand of clothing. Later, he launched that newspaper. Later still, he was arrested.

Now, at the age of 78, he’s facing another 20 years in prison.

Twenty years for running a newspaper.

Seven years for writing editorials.

Ten years for serving as editor-in-chief.

Ten years for refusing to testify against your boss.

Dragged away for wearing a keychain.

That’s 2026 for you. [Chinese]

Excerpts from three of Li’s other posts are translated at CDT this week. Two commented on the detention of investigative journalists Liu Hu and Wu Yingjiao. The third is from February 2020, and describes Li’s interrogation for posting a biography of the late COVID whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang. That one includes numerous pinyin substitutions such as “Fu能量” for “负能量” (fù néngliàng, “negative energy”), but these attempts to evade censorship were no more successful than the omission of proper nouns from the post above. All four posts were deleted from WeChat, but are archived at CDT Chinese.