17 December, 2025
The Editor
The Wall Street Journal
Dear Editor,
I am appalled by your editorial “After the Jimmy Lai Verdict” (December 15), which blatantly ignores the facts of Lai Chee-ying’s criminal case, while urging leaders in the United States and the United Kingdom to interfere in China’s internal affairs as well as undermine the rule of law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
I must stress yet again that no one is above the law in Hong Kong. In this regard, I wish to remind your readers that Lai’s trial was held in open court and there were a number of foreign consulate staff attending the whole course of the trial, seeing for themselves how open and fair this trial is.
The court's reasons for verdict in this case are 855 pages long and fully open for public inspection. They completely dispel your fabricated claim of a “phony verdict”.
What’s more, your editorial’s portrayal of Lai as a newspaperman simply expressing his own feelings is a complete distortion of reality. In fact, Lai's case has nothing to do with press freedom at all.
Over the years, Lai was using Apple Daily as a platform and journalism as a guise to commit acts that brought harm to our country and Hong Kong. He exercised close management and hands-on control of the editorial direction of Apple Daily. Meanwhile, Lai has repeatedly and personally colluded with foreign forces, begging for sanctions and hostile actions against the Central Authorities and the HKSAR Government.
If someone uses biased, false or misleading information to attempt overthrowing the government, I think this is unbearable for any country. Lai’s case illustrates how we are able to interdict all the national security concerns and all the attempts to affect the national security of our country, thereby ensuring the safety of Hong Kong.
Chris Tang
Secretary for Security
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region