US State Department condemns 'spurious' fraud conviction of media mogul Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong
The US State Department condemned Hong Kong's conviction this week of jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying on "spurious" fraud charges, accusing the Hong Kong authorities once again of using the national security law as an excuse to muffle the city's press corps and shut down critical speech.
"We remain deeply concerned about the deterioration in protection for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the systematic dismantling of Hong Kong's autonomy under the national security law (NSL)," Ned Price, the State Department spokesman, said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Though Lai's fraud trial was not on NSL grounds, local authorities nonetheless imposed the NSL's more restrictive legal procedures for this non-NSL case," said Price.
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An outspoken opponent of the national security law, Lai is already in prison for "unauthorised assemblies" banned by the act. He was found guilty on Tuesday after being accused of defrauding a government-owned enterprise over the unauthorised operation of a consultancy firm at the offices of his now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper.
Hong Kong authorities had already shut down the newspaper in June last year during a crackdown under the national security law. Observers in Washington have viewed the latest charges against Lai as little more than an excuse to punish him further.
Under US policy, Washington determined in 2020 that Hong Kong was no longer autonomous from Beijing because of the national security law.
Price said the move against Lai "undermines" China's obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which was supposed to guarantee Hong Kong a "high degree of autonomy" after the city's return to Chinese rule in 1997.
"We urge PRC authorities to restore respect for press freedom in Hong Kong, where a once-vibrant independent media environment has all but disappeared," Price said.
"Efforts to stifle press freedom and restrict the free flow of information undermine Hong Kong's democratic institutions and hurt Hong Kong's credibility as a business and financial hub."
Price's statement followed separate criticism from a bipartisan group of US lawmakers, who warned that the Chinese Communist Party was using "bogus" fraud charges to "smear Mr. Lai's reputation and justify an additional sham national security law trial in December".
In response, Beijing accused the senators of having "sinister intentions" against the city.
Fraud is punishable by up to 14 years' imprisonment in Hong Kong, but capped at seven years at the District Court.
Lai is currently remanded in the maximum-security Stanley Prison awaiting a collusion trial under the national security law.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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