Fury at China over ‘death sentence’ prison term for British free speech champion Jimmy Lai, 78, just days after Starmer visited Beijing

China is facing a major political backlash today after British media pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison following a ‘mock trial’ in a Hong Kong court.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper demanded communist officials put an end to the ‘terrible ordeal’ faced by the 78-year-old critic of the Beijing regime.

Mr Lai, 78, was found guilty of foreign collusion and sedition under a controversial national security law imposed by Beijing.

The sentence is the harshest yet under the sweeping legislation and has been condemned by human rights groups as ‘a literal death penalty’.

China’s move is embarrassing for its government, coming just over a week after Sir Keir Starmer visited Beijing and discussed Mr Lai’s situation.

Sir Keir told MPs a week ago that he had ‘raised the Jimmy Lai issue’ in talks with president Xi Jinping.

In a statement published by the Foreign Office on X, Ms Cooper described the investigation as politically motivated and said Mr Lai was ‘exercising his right to freedom of expression’.

But shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said: Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Labor Government should be ashamed of themselves for failing to secure Jimmy’s release.

China’s move is embarrassing for its government, coming just over a week after Sir Keir Starmer visited Beijing and discussed Mr Lai’s situation.

‘Spineless Starmer gave the Chinese Communist Party his super-embassy spy headquarters and then went to Beijing to beg for Chinese investment in front of President Xi.

‘Starmer heads back to Britain boasting about securing a deal for the Labubu babies while Jimmy languishes in prison. Starmer’s failure to counter Chinese threats has damaged our interests and security and he now has no leverage to pressure the Chinese to release Jimmy.’

Downing Street rejected suggestions that relations with China had failed in light of the sentence, arguing that it meant there was “a better chance of a positive outcome” rather than “just talking into the void”.

Mr Lai, who holds a British passport, founded the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, which is no longer in print.

He incurred the ire of the state by frequently using his publication as a means of protest, but he always denied the charges against him.

Six former executives of the newspaper were sentenced today to prison terms of between six years, nine months and 10 years.

Lai’s lawyer had said he suffered from hypertension and diabetes, among other conditions, but the court said he was ‘not inclined’ to soften the sentence because of his medical condition.

Ms Cooper said: ‘Beijing’s National Security Law was imposed on Hong Kong to silence critics of China.’

Campaigners describe Mr Lai’s sentence as ‘literally a death sentence’

‘For a 78-year-old this is the equivalent of a life sentence.

‘I remain deeply concerned for Mr. Lai’s well-being and call on the Hong Kong authorities once again to end this horrific ordeal and release him on humanitarian grounds so that he can be reunited with his family.’

Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, leader of Lai’s international legal team, told the BBC it had been ‘a show trial from the start, the script had already been written’.

Mr. Lai’s international legal team was barred from defending him in court.

Following the sentencing, Gallagher said: ‘Sentencing Jimmy Lai, already 78, to twenty years behind bars is an affront to justice and the culmination of over five years of malicious prosecution against a brave elderly British citizen and prisoner of conscience.

‘Now that this sham trial is finally over, we call on leaders from around the world to speak with one voice in their demands that China release Jimmy Lai so he can finally return to his family in London.’

Hong Kong chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu hailed the sentence as ‘extremely welcome’ and described his crimes as ‘disgusting’ and ‘utterly despicable’.

Lee wrote in a Facebook post: ‘Lai has long used Apple Daily to poison the minds of citizens, incite hatred, distort facts, deliberately create social division, glorify violence, and openly beg foreign powers to impose sanctions on China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.’

The head of the Hong Kong police’s National Security Department also argued that Lai’s 20-year prison sentence was “appropriate.”