To the Editorial Board of The Washington Post:   

Your December 15th editorial, “Jimmy Lai and the End of Hong Kong”, reads like a heavily edited yet ultimately failed preview—one that conveniently leaves out the core plot of “collusion with external forces” of the Jimmy Lai case. Such a script is nothing short of willful distortion.   

The above absurdity only obliges me to point to the full story, which includes 156 days of open hearings, the testimonies of 14 prosecution witnesses, 2,220 pieces of evidence, over 80,000 pages of documents, and finally the court’s 855-page verdict. When someone cloaks himself in the guise of press freedom while pleading with foreign politicians to impose sanctions on his own country and even declares he is “fighting for America”, this no longer fits any job descriptions in the respectable profession of journalism. To be clear, acts that undermine national security are most likely criminal.   

As for the editorial’s melodramatic subplots—hinting at “health concerns” and “solitary confinement”—these are nothing but reckless fabrications. It seems that failing to identify any flaw in the judicial process, you are left with no choices but to resort to crafting a narrative of victimhood. 

The truth is, Jimmy Lai has received timely, comprehensive, and appropriate medical care in the correctional institution, with his good health confirmed even by his own defense lawyer in court. How much longer will you keep acting out this baseless tragedy?   

It is time to end this “sham editorial” and return to professional ethics and factual accuracy. Regarding the case of Jimmy Lai, let this be the final word—when freedom is abused as a dagger, the law must be upheld as a shield. This principle holds true everywhere.  

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

December 16, 2025