The betrayal of Hong Kong and Jimmy Lai |
Former Apple Daily publisher Jimmy Lai, shown in 2020, was found guilty by a Hong Kong court.ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP/Getty Images
For anyone under the illusion that the “one country, two systems” agreement under which China took control of Hong Kong in 1997 was still in effect, the events of the past two days have been a painful education.
On Monday, former newspaper publisher Jimmy Lai was found guilty on three charges under the National Security Law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in 2020. The day before, Hong Kong’s oldest pro-democracy party voted to dissolve itself after 30 years of activism.
The now quaint notion that the Chinese Communist Party would allow Hong Kong to retain its capitalist system, common law, civil liberties and Western way of life for 50 years (and hopefully pull the mainland its way) is now dead.
Joining it in the graveyard is Hong Kongers’ right to a free and independent press. Mr. Lai, the former publisher of the defunct Apple Daily, is by far the most high-profile person to be targeted by the five-year-old National Security Law. Supporters and........