When will the West come to realize that the charges against media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying of collusion with foreign forces and sedition to incite hatred toward the administration are serious offenses that would threaten national security in any country and should not be written off as a “show trial”?

Three judges, well-versed in national security laws, heard 92 days of evidence before determining that the 76-year-old Lai had a case to answer. They adjourned the case to Nov 20, when he will be able to answer the charges against him.

But the court of public opinion, led by Lai’s son Sebastien (in Taiwan) and defense team Doughty Street Chambers (in England), continues to provide the media with sufficient sound bites advocating Lai’s innocence. They have labeled Lai and his now-defunct newspaper, Apple Daily, as being “pro-democracy”. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Let the truth be known that Apple Daily was nothing but a trashy newspaper indulging in sex and gossip. It did not take on an anti-government stance until the Beijing authorities closed down Lai’s clothing outlet, Giordano, in Beijing in 1994 after Lai failed to comply with regulatory requirements. Soon after, he sold Giordano to focus on his anti-government activities through his media empire.

The Western media have dubbed Lai a pro-democracy activist. So what was Lai protesting about when, at the time of his arrest, Hong Kong had a fully elected legislature, its president was elected from among its members, and the special administrative region’s chief executive was elected by a 1,500-strong election committee, 1,000 more than the committee that elects the US president? But the foreign media’s unfounded criticism claims that he is innocent even though he was quoted on United States’ flagship broadcaster CNN that “we in Hong Kong are fighting for the shared values of the US against China. We are fighting their (US) war in the enemy camp”. He made the public comments in July 2019, after meeting with then-US vice-president Mike Pence, then-secretary of state Mike Pompeo, and then-national security advisor John Bolton. He later told CNN that then-US president Donald Trump was the only person who could save Hong Kong from China.

Lai, being a staunch Catholic, was reported to ask for the support from the Catholic Church. The largest Catholic broadcaster in the US, the Eternal World Television Network, which boasts 425 million subscribers in 160 countries, interviewed Mark Simon, now managing director of Lai’s trust fund in the US, who naturally pleaded Lai’s innocence. He said Lai was in solitary confinement in a World War II-era prison with no air conditioning during Hong Kong’s extremely hot summer. But Simon, a former US naval intelligence officer now residing in the US, is known for his falsification of facts. In 2020, Apple Daily published a falsehood-ridden 64-page report produced by Typhoon Investigations alleging Joe Biden’s son Hunter had a “problematic” connection with the Communist Party of China. An NBC report revealed that Typhoon Investigations was a fake intelligence agency, and that the author of the report, named as Martin Aspen, was a fabricated identity. In response to the issue, Lai admitted that Simon used money from Lai’s private company to pay for the project. Simon resigned from his post after the broadcaster’s revelation.

Most foreign media labeled the lengthy hearing as a sham or show trial even though it was fully transparent with daily attendances by the diplomatic corps, including the EU, US, UK, and Australia, as well as the local and foreign press. They called it a sham because the three judges were appointed by the Hong Kong chief executive in consultation with the chief justice. However, they have failed to acknowledge that the procedure is common practice in most jurisdictions.

Britain’s Guardian newspaper led with witnesses being tortured to give evidence, while the official Voice of America led that the hearing was a show trial. Australia’s Law Society Journal carried interviews with Doughty Street barristers and Lai’s prime counsel, Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC. Earlier, The Economist called it the “unfair trial of Jimmy Lai”. Australia’s ABC carried interviews with Sebastien Lai and Gallagher.

Immediately after the adjournment was announced, Sebastien Lai and Gallagher embarked on a global campaign to drum up support for the senior Lai’s release.

But regardless of what the media pleads, or what politicians and human rights groups say to try to sway the SAR government to release Lai, the courts of Hong Kong are totally independent. They will pay no attention to the aspirations of the critics of the administration and judiciary, and will base their findings solely on the evidence, including that of Lai in November, presented to them. Lai is, after all, deemed innocent until proved guilty.

The author is a former chief information officer of the Hong Kong government, a PR and media consultant, and veteran journalist.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.