Beijing hits back at US politicians in war of words over fraud conviction for Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai
- China’s foreign ministry office in Hong Kong accuses US senators of having ‘sinister intentions’, calls bipartisan statement proof of American collusion with Jimmy Lai
- Joint statement from US senators comes after Lai was found guilty of fraud over illegal operation of consultancy firm at offices of now-closed Apple Daily newspaper
Beijing has hit back at a joint statement by several United States senators condemning the conviction of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying in a recent fraud case, accusing them of attempting to smear the rule of law in the city.
The office of the Chinese foreign ministry’s commissioner in Hong Kong on Wednesday also described the US politicians’ support for Lai as further proof he had colluded with foreign forces, as well as exposing their “sinister intentions” to destroy the city’s prosperity and stability.
On Tuesday, Lai was found guilty of defrauding a government-owned enterprise over the illegal operation of a consultancy firm at the offices of the now-closed Apple Daily newspaper.
In response to the ruling, 20 senators, led by Republican Jim Risch, a ranking member of the US Senate’s foreign relations committee, issued a bipartisan statement calling Lai’s conviction a “sham” and praising him as a “strong advocate for press freedom and democracy”.
But a spokesman for the commissioner’s office on Wednesday said Hong Kong had adhered to the rule of law.
“Any act of whitewashing that attempts to glorify Jimmy Lai and his like as ‘human rights defenders’ or ‘freedom heroes’ cannot obscure the fact that they have committed crimes. What waits for them is definitely the fair judgment of the law,” he said.
