A Chinese patriot has been convicted on trumped-up charges of sedition for opposing the country’s brutal communist regime and could now spend the remainder of his life in prison.

Media magnate and anti-totalitarianism activist Jimmy Lai was convicted Monday in a Hong Kong court, on charges of collusion with foreign agents and publishing seditious materials. The 78-year-old newspaper owner and publisher pleaded not guilty to the charges, but was convicted by a three-judge panel approved by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The charges largely stem from Lai’s involvement in promoting and funding anti-totalitarianism protests in Hong Kong in 2019 and 2020, in addition to allegations that he urged foreign officials in the U.S. and other Western countries to sanction China for suppression of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

Lai’s son Sebastien told reporters, “In the 800-page verdict they have there is essentially nothing, nothing that incriminates him.” He added, “This is a perfect example of how the national security law has been molded and weaponized against someone who essentially said stuff that they didn’t like.” The young Lai said that he and his family were “saddened but not surprised” by the CCP-aligned judges’ decision. “We have always known that my father was being prosecuted solely for his courageous journalism and unwavering commitment to democracy.” Lai’s daughter Claire said, “This verdict proves that the authorities still fear our father, even in his weakened state, for what he represents.” According to Claire, her father’s health is deteriorating and he has lost nearly 25 pounds of weight due to poor detention conditions.

President Donald Trump, who has pledged to support Lai and negotiate with Beijing for the media mogul’s release, addressed the conviction on Monday. “I feel so badly,” Trump said. “I spoke to President Xi [Jinping] about it, and I asked to consider his release. He’s not well. He’s an older man and he’s not well, so I did put that request out. We’ll see what happens.” Trump’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has consistently condemned the CCP’s prosecution of Lai and called for the publisher’s release. “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,” Rubio said Monday.

Lai has a long history of opposition to the CCP’s totalitarian rule. Born in Guangzhou (Canton) shortly before the CCP took power at the end of the Chinese Civil War, Lai escaped to British-controlled Hong Kong at the age of 12 and began working in a clothing factory. His skill quickly catapulted him to the position of factory manager and he began buying factories and eventually founded his own clothing company at the age of 31. In the 1990s, Lai transitioned to the media business, founding the Apple Daily newspaper and Next Magazine, both of which were openly critical of China’s communist regime, especially following the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Apple Daily, Next Magazine, and a third publication, Sudden Weekly, quickly became the most-read publications in Hong Kong and Taiwan, but were banned in mainland China.

In a 1994 article, Lai told then-premier of China Li Peng, a high-ranking CCP official, to “drop dead,” and subsequently called the communist regime “a monopoly that charges a premium for lousy service.” The CCP banned Lai’s publications and began ordering advertisers to boycott Apple Daily, Next Magazine, and Sudden Weekly. When China took over Hong Kong from Britain in 1997, the CCP ramped up its hostilities towards Lai, barring him from listing his companies on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and encouraging frequent vandalism against his properties. The attacks grew more severe, with Lai receiving death threats, being rammed by a car, and seeing his house or offices firebombed on multiple occasions. The media magnate has used his wealth and influence to promote and fund pro-democracy protests over the last two decades, including in 2003, 2014, and 2019.

Lai met with Trump administration officials, including then-Vice President Mike Pence, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and then-National Security Advisor John Bolton, during a visit to the U.S. in 2019. Shortly after returning to Hong Kong, Lai was arrested and charged with unlawful assembly in relation to his support for the 2019 protests. He was released on bail and arrested again six months later, in August, on charges under the 2020 Hong Kong National Security Law, which the CCP pushed through China’s legislature, bypassing Hong Kong’s Legislative Council. Lai was again released on bail but was arrested a third time in December of 2020, on charges of fraud. Hundreds of Hong Kong police officers also raided Lai’s offices and the offices of Apple Daily.

The third time he was arrested, Lai was denied bail and was to be jailed until his trial in April. He was, however, convicted on the unlawful assembly charges and sentenced to 14 months in prison. A month later, another 14 months were added to the sentence. In December of 2021, he was convicted of unlawful assembly in relation to a Tiananmen Square candlelight vigil and sentenced to an additional 13 months in prison. A British national, Lai sought to hire a British lawyer for his defense against the charges of foreign collusion, a move opposed by China’s “Justice Department,” but one which Hong Kong’s judges permitted, with the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region rejecting CCP prosecutors’ appeals. Accordingly, the CCP-controlled Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress reinterpreted the 2020 Hong Kong National Security Law to allow prosecutors to bar foreign lawyers from representing those accused of crimes under the legislation.

Late in 2022, Lai was convicted of the 2020 fraud charges and sentenced to nearly six years in prison and fined two million Hong Kong dollars (equivalent to nearly $260,000). He was kept in prison, in solitary confinement, while awaiting trial on the charges of foreign collusion and sedition. Lai’s lawyers claimed that they have been put under surveillance by the CCP and have been subjected to numerous threats, including death threats, threats of rape and dismemberment, and threats of rape against their children.

Lai is a practicing Catholic and his family report that he has taken comfort in prayer and in drawing pictures of Christ’s crucifixion and Christ’s mother, Mary, while in prison. Catholic Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of the Archdiocese of San Francisco hailed the Hong Kong publisher as “a white martyr for the faith. Pray for him and for all the suffering Church in China.” CatholicVote President & CEO Kelsey Reinhardt called Monday’s conviction a “sham verdict” and “a grotesque travesty of justice and a naked abuse of state power” that “exposes Beijing’s courts for what they are: instruments of political repression, not guardians of law. In punishing Jimmy Lai, the regime is not enforcing justice. Instead, it is criminalizing courage, silencing religious freedom, and sending a chilling warning to anyone who dares to speak freely.”

Lai’s godfather, Wall Street Journal columnist Bill McGurn, blasted the conviction as “phony” and a “charade.” McGurn, who has been denied contact with his godson for the last three years, urged Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to pressure Beijing to release Lai. “Jimmy’s future will be determined by three men: Xi Jinping of China, President Trump of the United States, and Keir Starmer of Britain,” he said. “The problem is, Jimmy is a British citizen, and the British aren’t really pushing his release. Keir Starmer, the prime minister, he needs a little prod to get it done. … You would think he’d want to let it be known it’s not open season on British citizens … but so far, they seem pretty reluctant to do that.”