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Hong Kong national security law: UK foreign minister says Jimmy Lai case raised with China’s vice-president earlier this month
- Foreign Secretary James Cleverly reveals he raised concerns to Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng during London visit
- Media mogul set to stand trial in September without a jury on charges of sedition and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces
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The United Kingdom’s foreign minister revealed on Thursday that he had raised the case of jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, who holds a British passport and faces collusion charges in Hong Kong, with China’s vice-president earlier this month.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly reiterated his accusation that city authorities had used the Beijing-imposed national security legislation and the sedition law to “target prominent pro-democracy figures, journalists and politicians in an effort to silence and discredit them” in Britain’s latest six-monthly parliamentary report on Hong Kong.
“Detained British dual national Jimmy Lai is one such figure. I raised his case with Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng earlier this month, and we have raised it at the highest levels with the Hong Kong authorities,” Cleverly said.
In response, the Hong Kong government issued a strongly worded statement on Thursday night, saying it “strongly disapproved” of the report and urged Britain to stop interfering in the city’s matters.
Cleverly said Lai, founder of the now-closed Apple Daily newspaper, along with 47 opposition activists charged with subversion over an unofficial primary, among others, would be put on trial under the security law this year.
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