Jimmy Lai’s Conviction Is The Penalty For Doing Real Journalism

America’s propaganda media wouldn’t know what a real “attack” on press freedom would look like if it hit them in the face. But the same can’t be said for Hong Kong billionaire Jimmy Lai.

On Monday, the pro-democracy activist and media tycoon was convicted by the city’s Chinese-backed government on charges of alleged collusion with foreign powers and sedition. Lai was charged under Hong Kong’s national security law, which was enacted several years ago to further criminalize dissent throughout the semi-autonomous region now under the grip of the Chinese Communist Party and its forces. The sedition charge was “under a separate, colonial-era law,” as noted by NPR.

According to CNBC, the Hong Kong court overseeing Lai’s trial — which first began in December 2023 — claimed that Lai “harbored his resentment and hatred of the PRC [People’s Republic of China] for many of his adult years.” It also contended that the 78-year-old Christian and his pro-democracy outlet, Apple Daily, sought a foreign power “‘to impose sanctions or blockade, or engage in other hostile activities’ against Hong Kong or China.” (Notably, “Lai did not deny that he’d called for sanctions earlier, but insisted that he stopped” once the security law was enacted, according to PBS.)

Lai is expected to be sentenced on Jan. 12, 2026, and is facing potential life in prison.

[READ: How Jimmy Lai Became Communist China’s Good ‘Troublemaker’]

It goes without saying that Lai’s incarceration has little to do with the mischaracterized allegations against him and everything to do with his role in promoting freedom and democracy throughout Hong Kong. As Federalist Senior Contributor Helen Raleigh previously noted in these pages, his media publications (Apple Daily and Next magazine) were instrumental in “fostering political and civic engagement of the city’s seven million residents and helping mobilize hundreds of thousands, and eventually millions to take part in the city’s various pro-democracy protests between 2003 and 2019.”

In Lai, the CCP found an adversary unwilling to bend his knee to the threat of communist tyranny. And for that, he lost everything — his freedom, his fortune, and now potentially, his life.

Lai’s conviction and impending sentencing further illustrate the CCP’s war against God-given freedoms and those who embrace them. But more to the point, they put to shame dress-up journalists in our own country, who dare to smear mere criticisms of their shoddy work from the Republicans and everyday Americans they routinely slander as “threats” and “violence.”

In actuality, they know nothing of the sort.

For all their supposed concerns about such non-existent “attacks on the press,” this “democracy dies in darkness” crowd couldn’t be bothered to care when the Biden administration and foreign government-linked “disinformation” groups were trying to censor and shut down non-legacy outlets like The Federalist for doing actual journalism. In fact, some of them (like NBC News) even joined in on the censorship campaign.

At the same time, these self-professed truth-tellers pat themselves on the back and hand each other awards for parroting debunked propaganda on behalf of bad government actors.

In 2018, for example, The New York Times and Washington Post were awarded Pulitzers for their “reporting” on the baseless Russia collusion hoax. Yes, you read that correctly. The very outlets that partook in one of the worst scandals in American history — which sought to undermine Donald Trump’s 2016 election and sabotage his presidency — were heralded as heroes of the profession.

America’s press have devolved into a conglomeration of left-wing activist outlets that serve one purpose only: to act as the propaganda arm for the Democrat Party and its allies — facts, truth, and press freedom be damned.

The desperate attempts to deceive people into thinking that there is some conservative-led war to squash “freedom of the press” in America are merely a bid to avoid accountability for this egregious conduct. As demonstrated above, these talking heads only care about “press freedom” when it can be weaponized to destroy their political opponents and run interference for their friends.

Fortunately, Jimmy Lai saw things differently.

For a man who escaped communist China, Lai came to view a free and open press as an absolute necessity in maintaining liberty in the semi-autonomous city he called home. He believed, as it seems, that in order for Hong Kong to thrive, it would require a media willing to ethically hold politicians and government officials accountable — not act as their lapdogs.

The courage demonstrated by Lai is something America’s propaganda media could only dream of possessing. For them to act as if their endured criticisms is anything comparable to the actual lawfare being waged against Lai is nothing short of embarrassing.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood