To the Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal: 

Your December 15th editorial, “After the Jimmy Lai Verdict”, has truly reached new heights of absurdity. It slanders this judgment as a “show trial”, glorifies Jimmy Lai yet again as a “a newspaper owner passionate about freedom”, downplays his collusion with external forces as merely “rallying support”, while completely turning a blind eye to his calls for foreign sanctions against China and his public declaration to “fight for America”. We wonder: would your editors dare to openly urge foreign nations to impose sanctions on the United States or declare themselves “fighting” for another country? Despite a trial spanning over 150 days and an 855-page verdict, you are still insisting there is “no serious evidence”. Such an editorial is itself a “show editorial”. 

Unable to find fault with the judicial process, you instead are pinning your hopes for Jimmy Lai on so-called “diplomatic discussions”. You openly call on U.S. and UK leaders to pressure China, arrogantly claim that “freeing Jimmy Lai would be a favor to Beijing” and even take pains to draft some talking points for the leaders. Calling for Jimmy Lai’s release through pressure is an insult both to the rule of law and to diplomacy. 

Your carefully orchestrated “diplomatic script” is nothing but a fantasy that disregards international law and national sovereignty. We will have none of it. The rule of law is never up for sale, and the red line of national security is not up for challenge. 

Spokesperson of the Commissioner’s Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the HKSAR

December 16, 2025