'Despicable': Hong Kong slams Western 'smears' as US calls for Jimmy Lai's release

‘These biased statements and malicious smears from external forces precisely reflect that the national security risks we face are real,’ government says

A political row over former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has intensified after his guilty verdict, with the Hong Kong government condemning what it called “despicable political manipulations” and the United States calling for his release.

Beijing’s top office overseeing city affairs also published a strongly worded commentary on Tuesday, criticising Lai for using “two systems” to oppose “one country” and branding him a “national criminal who will forever be nailed to the pillar of historical shame”.

The clash followed Monday’s guilty verdict against the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper.

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Lai was convicted of two conspiracy counts of collusion with foreign forces and a third of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious articles in his national security trial.

US President Donald Trump told reporters that he had urged leniency for Lai during a call with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

“I feel so badly. I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked [him] to consider his release,” Trump told reporters, without specifying exactly when the conversation took place.

“He’s an older man, and he’s not well, so I did put that request out. We’ll see what happens.”

In a subsequent statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for Lai’s release on humanitarian grounds.

“The guilty verdict in Mr Lai’s national security case reflects the enforcement of Beijing’s laws to silence those who seek to protect freedom of speech and other fundamental rights – rights that China pledged to uphold in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration,” he said.

“Mr Lai is not alone in facing punishment for defending these rights.”

Rubio added that Lai’s health had severely deteriorated throughout his “more than 1,800 days in prison” and urged that his ordeal end “as soon as possible”.

Lai’s daughter, Claire Lai Choi, recently told a news agency that her father’s nails had turned “almost purple, grey and greenish” before falling off and that his teeth were becoming rotten.

Following the verdict, city authorities expressed “strong dissatisfaction with and opposition to” the US, Western countries and anti-China media over their “malicious attacks, false statements and smears”.

It described the criticism as “despicable political manipulations” aimed at smearing and attacking Hong Kong through Lai’s case.

“These biased statements and malicious smears from external forces precisely reflect that the national security risks we face are real … They have also refused to acknowledge the evidence set out in the verdict’s reasoning and understand the court’s considerations and rationale,” a government spokesman said.

“Instead, they have wantonly launched attacks, slandered and attacked the Hong Kong government in a clear case of politics trumping the law … We must sternly denounce their wrongdoings to set the record straight.”

The spokesman stressed that the judgment was made “strictly in accordance with the law and evidence” and was “entirely free from any political considerations”.

He reiterated the court’s finding that Lai intended to “seek the downfall of the Communist Party of China” and that his actions had “nothing to do with freedom of the press”.

He concluded that Lai’s crimes were committed “in full view of the public” and that the evidence was compelling, saying the conviction “safeguards the core values of Hong Kong”.

In its commentary, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office called Lai a “national criminal who will forever be nailed to the pillar of historical shame” and a “traitor” who served as a “lackey” for Western anti-China forces, describing their relationship as one of “master and slave”.

The office said Lai’s alleged ultimate motive was to encourage people to use two systems to confront one country, seize control of Hong Kong’s governance and spread a “colour revolution” to the mainland to help contain China’s rise.

The Chinese foreign ministry’s arm in Hong Kong also issued a rare open letter to overseas media in the city, explaining the “facts and truths” about the verdict, and urging outlets to uphold objectivity and present an accurate picture to the world.

Local authorities hit back at foreign media and the Hong Kong Journalists Association, which expressed its “utmost regret” over the outcome and said the case had caused “irreversible damage to [the city’s] press long before the conviction”.

It called the association a group that “lacked public credibility”, with hidden leadership deliberately attempting to “whitewash” Lai, adding that his conviction had “absolutely nothing to do with press freedom”, as the Apple Daily founder had used journalism as a guise to harm the country.

The city government accused the association and anti-China foreign media of having the ultimate goal of manipulating, infiltrating and brainwashing young people into subversion.

Both Britain and the European Union criticised the prosecution as “politically motivated”, and called for Lai’s immediate release.

Australia also said it was “deeply concerned” by the guilty verdict, adding that it would continue to urge China to “cease suppression of freedoms” and call for the repeal of Hong Kong’s national security legislation.

In response, China’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Zheng Zeguang, said the British condemnation of Lai’s verdict was a “gross interference” in the country’s internal affairs and a “blatant trampling on the spirit of the rule of law”.

He demanded the UK “immediately cease intervening in the city’s judicial affairs” and “stop harbouring anti-China, Hong Kong-destabilising elements”.