After Jimmy Lais sentencing, China clearly looks bent on proving its word is worthless

A Hong Kong kangaroo court on Monday handed a 20-year sentence to Jimmy Lai, 78 and in his sixth year in jail, for the crime of journalism.It was a show trial from the start: The Chinese Communist Party toadies denied Lai his chosen lawyers and any chance for a jury to decide his fate; his real “crime” was founding pro-democracy Apple Daily and standing up for freedom.The CCP has now made it crystal-clear that its written commitments mean nothing: Beijing promised to protect Hong Kong’s freedoms in the treaty that gave it control of the city, but “one country, two systems” is now a hollow joke.Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Please provide a valid email.

By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story.

This was the longest sentence yet under the “national security law” Beijing imposed to criminalize dissent after 2019 pro-democracy demonstrations embarrassed China’s rulers; six former Apple Daily executives also got sentences of up to 10 years Monday under the same totalitarian statute.It’s a landmark case for human rights that now becomes China’s last chance to avoid killing the golden goose of Hong Kong’s prosperity, which relies on maintaining real rule of law.President Donald Trump has asked China’s Xi Jinping to show mercy to Lai; he could win respect across the West by pushing harder for his release — and that of other political prisoners — when the two leaders meet in April.Congress should move ahead with bills such as the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Certification Act, to revoke special privileges granted to Hong Kong’s overseas offices on the basis of an autonomy that no longer exists, as well as the Hong Kong Judicial Sanctions Act to hold judges and prosecutors accountable for politically motivated prosecutions.Again, this is not just night falling on a once-free island; it’s a world power contemptuously breaking...