In a crowded Hong Kong courtroom, 77-year-old publisher and democracy activist Jimmy Lai is fighting for his life. One of Hong Kong＊s greatest entrepreneurs and founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, he faces charges under Hong Kong＊s National Security Law 〞 a vague and sweeping law imposed by Beijing in 2020 that has snuffed out the city＊s longstanding tradition of press freedom.
His alleged crime? Practicing journalism and criticizing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
It would be easy for people in Japan to view Lai＊s case as a local tragedy 〞 one more step in Hong Kong＊s transformation from a vibrant, open city into one controlled by the CCP. That would be a mistake. The persecution of Jimmy Lai is not just about silencing one man and shutting the newspaper he founded. It is part of a pattern. China is using Hong Kong as a testing ground to see how aggressively it can restrict the free speech of former citizens of Hong Kong who have fled for other countries.
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