Jimmy Lai. The self-made Catholic man who confronted the Chinese regime and who could be sentenced to life in prison – The Observer

Last Christmas, British businessman and politician Jimmy Lai sent three holiday illustrations to a Catholic school in the US state of Virginia. Businessman imprisoned since 2020 in Hong Kong middle In that Chinese Special Administrative Region He painted Jesus Christ on the cross in his cell, as well as MaryHe sent the drawings to the United States via one of his greatest allies, April Ponnuru. As compensation, the school organized a “Postcards for Jimmy” initiative, where children and teenagers sent letters of support to the exhibitions. A year later, the situation changed radically.

Jimmy Lai's trial began last Monday. The 76-year-old, who was born in mainland China and moved to Hong Kong on a fishing boat when he was 12, is charged with crimes Collusion with foreign forces And also from Sedition. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin recently described him as the “leader” of a network that organized “anti-China protests” and a pawn in the hands of “anti-China agents.”

Newspaper owner Apple Dailywhich had an editorial line openly critical of the Communist Party of China (PCC), Jimmy Lai became a very uncomfortable figure for the regime. Under British rule until 1997, Hong Kong came under Beijing's control, as were Portugal and Macau. It has benefited for years from a kind of tolerance that would have been unthinkable in mainland China, resulting from the special status agreed with the UK. However, Beijing authorities were tightening their grip – I stopped tolerating some freedoms.

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