Images of Lai Zhi-ying, the media tycoon who founded Apple Daily, with his hands in handcuffs and chains wrapped around his waist, have spread around the world in scenes as cruel as those of ancient prisoners being paraded in shackles. All of Hong Kong’s leading figures in the rebellion are being hunted down, arrested, tried and jailed by the Chinese Communist Party, but Mr Lai’s image as a man with a chain around his waist may live in living memory.
On Dec. 16, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom declared Lai zhi-ying a prisoner of conscience. The Wall Street journal described Mr Lai for Hong Kong’s democratic fighter, in fact, Mr Lai and take part in the last six months for global protest movement of hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong people, all prisoners of conscience, they don’t have the heart to Hong Kong this is different from the mainland China free land ravaged by authoritarian regimes, they stand up to Beijing propaganda, do not abandon your commitment to the world 20 years ago: one country, two systems, Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedom of speech, an independent judiciary. Did Mr Lai, which often occur in the civilized world, anti-government demonstrations, but a demonstration to the Beijing regime panic, they habitually to any free calls, the requirements of democracy is afraid, all the people demand freedom of action are infinitely magnified, enlarge to attempt to overthrow the regime “. Li Zhi Britain and huang feng, Zhou Ting etc. The young students, the more consciously, dare to speak, dare to walk in front of the opposition movement, these public protests are Beijing as a fan, is falsely accused of colluding with the foreign power launch hk in forced the national security law, the moths day after thoroughly become a puppet government, Lin on innocent rebels began a crackdown.
The super-brutal treatment of Mr Lai is a stark example of the fear that Beijing has of him, mixed with an unspeakable hatred. This is because Mr Lai is different, he has an independent media, in Hong Kong, the media or close together, or are collected by the communist party of China, or submit to humiliation, against the background of Mr Lai “apple daily” of its own, dare to truthfully report one thing about Hong Kong and China, dares to comment outspoken criticism of the authorities in Beijing and editorial, the normal things in civilized countries, become sin in Hong Kong now. No matter how powerful you are in the West, it is precisely what the authorities in Beijing will not tolerate most. From the moment it took control of China, the Communist Party of China (CPC) took blocking the road, controlling the media and public opinion as the basic means of ruling. In MAO’s era, those who dared to speak out, such as Lin Zhao, Yu Luo and Zhang Zhixin, were all killed by the authorities. The post-Mao era of relaxed rhetoric soon disappeared, and under Mr Xi, all lawyers who dared to speak, even as spokesmen, suffered a collective crackdown. Now that The authorities in Beijing have brazenly moved their own methods of governing mainland China to Hong Kong, with a free press at the top of their list of targets, Mr Lai has become, as netizens put it, a “traitor” in the eyes of “patriotic thieves” and a “traitor” in the eyes of despot.
Photos of Mr Lai with chains around his waist have been seen around the world, not so much in Beijing’s attempt to humiliate him and the Democrats he represents as in the authorities’ shameless faces. Shared destiny with Hong Kong, frustrated Beijing’s promotion of Taiwan as a country with two systems, and could not tolerate Beijing’s brutal treatment of Mr Lai. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Facebook on Tuesday that the image of Lai being escorted to court “with his hands cuffed and a chain around his waist is outrageous and intolerable.” Mr Lai’s case has led Ms Tsai to lament: “The proud spirit of freedom and the rule of law in Hong Kong has become a thing of the past.” , “The winter of freedom and human rights in Hong Kong is freezing cold,” but Tsai said, “I would like to publicly support Mr. Lai. I wanted him to know that all of Taiwan, the whole world, was watching. It is not Mr Lai who is being humiliated. It is Hong Kong’s freedom and rule of law.”
Some argue that Mr Xi’s decision to humiliate Lai Zhiying, the leader of the Hong Kong protests, was first and foremost aimed not at America and Westerners, but at China’s own “patriotic thieves” and Hong Kong minions. Patriotic thief don’t lack, minions, and sure enough, a so-called Chinese legal scholar Gu Minkang found performance opportunities, he said, referring to Mr Lai was “chief traitors”, he is worried that Mr Lai was suspected of national security case Hong Kong judge lifted gently down, asked to hand it over the mainland the judiciary, “reveals the power of the national security law”. However, the scene of Lai’s persecution has drawn reactions from many Chinese with a conscience. Rong Zhong, a North American reader who spent 17 years in Prison in China, wrote that Lai zhi-yeung had made efforts to strengthen himself in the face of adversity, because good does not stand up to good. “We will all laugh the last in the world,” he said.
Apple Daily reported that lai Zhiying spent half a month at the Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre, and many Hong Kong residents sent their best wishes and greetings to him. One 31-year-old wrote that he was heartbroken to see Mr Lai chained and encouraged him to “carry on, the darkness will pass”, adding: “It is good to have you in Hong Kong!” Another reader said Mr Lai was a successful businessman who should have retired to enjoy the sun or travelled the world, but he chose to love Hong Kong and stay to face the darkest times with its people. Su Tseng-chang, The premier of Taiwan, also said that Lai Zhi-ying had made his fortune in Hong Kong. He had plenty of opportunities to fly far and wide, but for an ideal, “for the freedom of Hong Kong, he lost his freedom”.
Lai, 72, a successful entrepreneur who moved to Hong Kong at the age of 12, should have been prepared for what would happen to him when he joined the pro-democracy movement, telling AFP in an interview at the office of Next Media Group a few months ago that he had no plans to leave Hong Kong. “I’m ready to go to jail,” he said. He has no regrets about his support of the protest movement. “I’m a man who needs more than money.” “I came here empty-handed, and I owe everything To being free. Perhaps it is time for me to give back that freedom.”
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