“The Hong Kong High Court’s decision to sentence Jimmy Lai to 20 years is an unjust and tragic conclusion to this case. It shows the world that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, casting aside the international commitments Beijing made in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration. After enduring a trial lasting two years, and detention in prison for more than five, Mr Lai and his family have suffered enough.”
“The United States urges the authorities to grant Mr Lai humanitarian parole,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio – whose department last year revoked the student visa of a Tufts PhD candidate who wrote an editorial critical of Israeli dictator Benjamin Netanyahu and held her in an ICE gulag for six weeks – in a statement Monday after Lai got tossed in one of Xi’s gulags until he’s 98 years old.