“It’s significant to me that Lai is a journalist,” Sirico said. “I think journalists should have had this on the front burner.”
Lai, Sirico argued, is “manifestly not guilty of treason.”
“He loves China,” he said. “He simply was exercising free speech rights.”
But Lai has “several things going against him,” Sirico argued, including his belief in capitalism and his proactive demonstrations in favor of freedom.
“He’s a Catholic. And we see what the posture of the Chinese government is to religion in general, and Catholicism in particular.
”I want to be hopeful. I love the man,” Sirico said. “I have a deep respect for him. I’m inspired by his bravery. But I know what he’s up against.”
Of particular concern to Lai’s advocates is the possibility that he may be removed to the Chinese mainland at some point, either before the trial or after the potential guilty verdict. Hong Kong, while long existing as a “special administrative region” of China, has for decades enjoyed its distinct forms of local economic and political governance, including freer trade and greater protection of human rights.
“My fear is that they take him to the mainland,” Sirico said. “It takes it off the radar, as much as it’s been on the radar.”
Among Lai’s other supporters is Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, who in a statement to CNA slammed what he called the “bogus trial of Jimmy Lai,” which, he said, “sharply symbolizes China’s gutting of Hong Kong’s independence, vibrancy, and democracy.”
Durbin was among the more than 20 senators who signed an October 2022 statement criticizing the “sham conviction” of Lai, who that month was found guilty of “fraud.” The senators at the time accused the Chinese Communist Party of “using bogus fraud charges to smear Mr. Lai’s reputation.”
Durbin this month told CNA that Lai “and so many other political prisoners in Hong Kong should be immediately released.”
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“Strong, confident nations shouldn’t be afraid of peaceful political speech,” the senator said.
Among the other signatories of the October statement was Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, who posted to X on Friday that China “says that Hong Kong is free and open for business, but then charges its citizens under its ‘national security law’ for sedition for speaking the truth and advocating for human rights.”
“Ahead of Jimmy Lai’s trial, I urge [Hong Kong] authorities to immediately and unconditionally drop all false and politically motivated charges and release him,” Risch wrote. “I will continue to do all that I can to secure his freedom.”
Lai’s case has also drawn the support of the Biden Department of State. After Lai’s fraud conviction, the department in a statement said it condemned the “spurious fraud charges” against the activist.
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment from CNA about the start of the trial on Monday. In October of last year, the department said it urged Chinese authorities to “restore respect for press freedom in Hong Kong, where a once-vibrant independent media environment has all but disappeared.”
“Efforts to stifle press freedom and restrict the free flow of information undermine Hong Kong’s democratic institutions and hurt Hong Kong’s credibility as a business and financial hub,” the department said.