Letter to The Washington Post
11 February 2026

The Editor
The Washington Post

Dear Editor,

While your Editorial Board is entitled to its own opinions, it is not entitled to its own facts. In “A de facto death sentence for publishing a newspaper” (9 February), your Editorial Board demonstrates a staggering disregard for the evidence in the case of Lai Chee-ying, instead resorting to blatant lies and anti-China propaganda to undermine the reputation of Hong Kong and our country.

The facts in the case of Lai and the other eight defendants repeatedly state and prove that the case had nothing to do with “publishing a newspaper” nor was it even about Lai’s political beliefs. The defendants were charged, convicted and sentenced for serious offences related to endangering national security. It is the first convicted case of the offence of “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security” since the promulgation and implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law in June 2020. Lai’s sentence of a total of 20 years' imprisonment reflects the grave nature of the case.

Your claim of a “kangaroo court” is wildly inaccurate and offensive. Again, I resort to the plain facts: 156 days of fair and impartial public hearings in open court attended by the public, media and observers from around the world; up to 2 220 exhibits as evidence; over 80 000 pages of documents and statements of evidence from 14 prosecution witnesses. The court pointed out clearly that Lai was the mastermind of the case. The court’s reasons for verdict and reasons for sentence are fully open for public inspection. They fully demonstrate that the court has arrived at the judgment in strict accordance with the law and the evidence.

Any suggestion that certain individuals should be immune from legal consequences for their illegal acts is no different from advocating a special privilege to break the law, and this totally runs contrary to the spirit of the rule of law.

Tang Ping-keung
Secretary for Security
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region