Hong Kong court jails pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai for 20 years

Hailed by some as a hero and scorned by others as a traitor, the 78-year-old is the most prominent person charged under the national security law which was introduced by China in 2020 in response to massive pro-democracy protests which erupted in Hong Kong the year before.

Born in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, Jimmy Lai was 12-years-old when he arrived in Hong Kong as a stowaway on a fishing boat. He started working menial jobs and eventually founded a multi-million dollar empire that included the clothing brand Giordano.

After 1989, when China crushed pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, Lai began a new journey as a vocal democracy activist.

He launched popular pro-democracy news outlets like Next magazine and Apple Daily newspaper, and became a regular attendee of the city’s pro-democracy demonstrations.

Many in Hong Kong saw him as a defender of the city’s freedoms, but Beijing viewed him as threat to Chinese national security.

Read this story for more on Jimmy Lai.