A Joyful Martyr
By: Conner Drigotas
Power Shift
Hong Kong. July 1, 2020. Carrie Lam sits in the middle of a panel of Hong Kong Executives. Her government role is Chief Executive. She is dressed in a Dolores Umbridge-style purple outfit, eerily similar down to the large collar, pin placement, and hairstyle of the fictional authoritarian from the globally known Harry Potter series. What she shares with the press, over the next hour and twenty-four minutes, will do little to distance herself from the comparison.
The Hong Kong Executive Council has gathered to answer reporters' questions about the “Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.” Also known as “The Hong Kong National Security Law.”
Even before implementation of the law, reporters are asking critical questions about the growing influence of Beijing in the relatively free Hong Kong, and are voicing concerns that the policy would erode the qualities that have allowed Hong Kongers to thrive.
The Executives want to arrest that narrative.
One keen observer of the unfolding power shift is Jimmy Lai. Lai, now a billionaire, arrived in Hong Kong as a child, penniless and smuggled as a stowaway on a fishing boat to start a new life. He went on to create the globally popular clothing company Giordano, which he left in 1996. Following the Tiananmen Square Massacre and the social unrest that followed, he also pursued journalism, first creating Next Magazine in 1990 and then, in 1995, Apple Daily News, a pro-democracy paper with a decidedly anti-Chinese government editorial position.
The National Security Law puts him and his staff in the crosshairs of the increasingly influential Chinese Community Party leadership out of Beijing.
On that July day, Chief Executive Lam walked a line between conciliatory and stern. “I would rather not to arrest or prosecute anybody,” she said, “if everybody abides by the law.” But for the tone and different language, she might as well have been quoting Rowling’s fictional Umbridge: "As I told you Mr Potter, naughty children deserve to be punished."
Jimmy Lai looked on, as Lam laid out the promises stated in Article 4 of the law, saying: “People of Hong Kong should be able to continue to enjoy the freedom of speech, freedom of press, of publications, protest, assembly and so on.”
Lam's words proved empty. Just 40 days later, on August 10, 2020, Jimmy Lai’s Apple Daily News office was raided by more than 200 police officers. He was handcuffed, marched through his newsroom, imprisoned, and eventually sentenced on petty charges designed to deny him bail.
His legal proceedings are still ongoing and may see him spend the rest of his life behind bars.
“Freedom of speech doesn't exist anymore”
Lam’s leadership and Lai’s imprisonment occur in the aftermath of a 155-year colonial occupation by the British Empire that started in 1842, and a period of transition to Chinese rule that began in 1997. Though Hong Kong was established as a “special administrative region” of China with a promise of 50 years of economic and governmental independence, the implementation of the National Security Law is widely considered to be an encroachment, if not an outright violation of the agreement.
The impact of the National Security Law is clear to Lai. “Freedom of speech doesn't exist anymore,” he said in September 2020, the only time he was out on bail, “when you are a journalist, you have to be cautious with what you write… when you have to be apprehensive of writing or saying something because you are in fear of reprisal, you don't have freedom of speech.”
The historical role of the British Empire is significant - but Jimmy is focused on the challenges of the present, not the past.
“I can never know what's going to happen because I cannot read the dictator's mind,” he told Uncommon Knowledge in a 2019 live podcast.
“If the consequences come, I will just accept it as my destiny. And if it’s my destiny, it’s God’s blessing. That’s the way I look at it.”
Destiny is a funny word. Jimmy’s problems are the natural result of his agency being delegated 105 years prior to his birth, in a way that still impacts him into his late 70’s. He, and each person who refuses to partake in the Chinese political game, are held to a standard where political players claim this century-old mandate allows them to justly diminish Jimmy’s wealth by force or fraud. They can initiate violence against him without consequences.
The stakes are high. China's Maoist "cultural revolution" killed an estimated 1.6 million human beings. The more recent Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) violence against Uyghur Muslims is an effort to “Break their lineage, break their roots.” Being a dissident means facing down an empire of officials without scruples about inflicting harm.
Where most Chinese subjects are understandably silent, Jimmy Lai has maintained a vocal commitment to following his own path. "I am what I am. I am what I believe,” he says, and “I don't care about my personal security."
After 30 years of working to preserve the values that have made Hong Kong an exceptionally prosperous geographic location, Jimmy now speaks harshly of the change brought on by collectivist ideologues: “They cannot tolerate a free city” he said, “it's very obvious to the Hong Kong people that China is determined to take away our freedom, our rule of law, and we just have to fight.”
He has proposed a direction for a better Hong Kong: “The British had a very small government. The greatest guarantee of people's freedom is the limitation of the government's power.”
Faith and Fear
Jimmy was arrested and was first convicted in April 2021 by prosecutors and judges, not the people who actually read his newspaper, to administer justice, but their behavior runs counter to what Lai believes are the basics of a just system.
“We need freedom in life. We need dignity as a human,” Jimmy said while speaking in 2020. In that same appearance, he concluded his opening remarks with a request specifically to Americans: “Do not underestimate your moral strength, and promote your values instead of apologizing for them.”
Jimmy is vocal about what he wants to be understood about his choices. However, the written word does not capture his inflection, pacing, and poise: “Without faith, I think I would have fear. I would have the psychological burden.” he says, and, “This is the way I accept my fate.”
Go to 8:01 and 10:15 to find these quotes.
Lai’s incarceration is his own choice. According to Bill McGurn, a WSJ columnist and Lai's Godfather, "He chose jail because of his convictions and solidarity." While many, perhaps most, would see incarceration as the end of their path, Lai’s story has been amplified - taking on an air of martyrdom that has reached a global audience with a message of hope through peaceful resistance. "I have to accept my fate with grace,” he said in a speech to the NAPA Institute in late 2020, where he encouraged the people of China to stand tall, saying: "If this 1.4 Billion people [the Chinese] have no power of virtue, what are they?"
In the years since, the people of China have not risen up against the CCP, and they are not alone. The bastion of Lai’s Catholic faith, the Pope and other Vatican officials have also failed to provide the “moral leadership” he seeks. They have remained silent about his incarceration, which has led him to accuse the Vatican of taking away the Chinese people's chance for a meaningful life by aligning with the CCP.
There is little hope for change from Hong Kong’s lawfully appointed leaders, either. Seated to Carrie Lam’s left in the July 2020 press conference was John Lee Ka-chiu. Serving as the Secretary for Security at the time, he had this to offer following Lam’s comments about the freedoms guaranteed in Article 4:
“It has been a vacuum in our law to tackle people who advocate independence… advocacy for independence of Hong Kong is against the law. That will make the number [of people who advocate for independence] small. And it is time that we act now so that that number is capped to the minimum. We want to see a zero number at the end of the day.”
In 2021 John Lee Ka-chiu would be promoted to the Chief Secretary for Administration, and since 2022 is the current Chief Executive of Hong Kong.
On June 3, 2024, it was reported that “Former Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor made a surprise appearance at a food carnival on Sunday, weeks after her office was revealed to be costing taxpayers HK$9 million a year despite her rare public outings” She wore pink.
As you read this, Jimmy Lai spends 23 hours per day in solitary confinement. There are few communications to draw on since his imprisonment, but his commitment to his faith and the path he has chosen appears to be unwavering. Scrawled alongside a picture he has drawn of the Crucifixion in 2021, he quotes Matthew 22:14: “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
