China and US clash again after media tycoon Jimmy Lai convicted of fraud by Hong Kong court
- US State Department spokesman calls verdict ‘grossly unjust outcome’ and asks central government to respect ‘freedom of expression’
- Beijing rejects US allegations and condemns ‘irresponsible comments’
Beijing has hit out at the United States for its attempt to “whitewash criminals” after Washington politicians condemned the “grossly unjust outcome” of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s latest trial, where the media tycoon was jailed for almost six years for fraud offences.
The latest war of words between the two countries was sparked by US Department of State spokesman Ned Price, who on Sunday appealed to the central government to respect freedom of expression, including for the press, in Hong Kong in the wake of Lai’s conviction on two charges of fraud.
“The United States condemns the grossly unjust outcome of Jimmy Lai’s latest trial sentencing,” Price wrote on Twitter. “By any objective measure, this result is neither fair nor just.”
But Beijing’s foreign affairs office in Hong Kong hit back and said it strongly disapproved and firmly rejected “irresponsible comments” on the Lai case made by Price and a few US congressmen.
The office spokesman said Hongkongers’ rights were fully protected, but insisted rights and freedoms could not be used as an “immunity passport for lawbreakers, or a privilege for anti-China forces”.
“In Jimmy Lai’s fraud case, the evidence is clear, the procedure is law-based, and the judgment is open and transparent. The trial by the special administrative region court is totally legitimate and lawful and it brooks no interference or reproach,” he said.
Beijing’s office in the city also slammed Washington for accusing it of not respecting the freedom of the press “just because the case involves an anti-China criminal”.
The spokesman claimed America’s actions had exposed to the world Lai’s identity “as an agent and a pawn of the US”.
