Hong Kong Political Prisoners – WSJ

The maximum punishment is life imprisonment and there is no guarantee that the Chinese authorities will not extradite Mr Lai to the mainland. A lower court infuriated Beijing last week when it gave bail and allowed Mr. Lai to wait for his trial under house arrest as long as he refrained from giving interviews, posting on social media or making public statements.

The prosecution cited Article 42 of the Security Act, which states that no bail can be granted “unless the judge has sufficient reason to believe that the criminal suspect or defendant will not continue to commit acts that endanger national security.” . Mr Lai is not such a threat. He bravely chose not to run away despite having a British passport, and China wants to set an example to stifle all criticism.

Meanwhile, on the mainland, a Shenzhen court has handed down harsh sentences for 10 Hong Kongers who were arrested while fleeing by boat to Taiwan. Authorities would not allow these troubled refugees to meet with lawyers hired by their families, and on Wednesday the court sentenced the 10 to between seven months and three years, almost certainly to be spent in China’s opaque and notorious closed system.

Beijing now considers it a criminal offense to try to escape persecution in Hong Kong. This is Soviet or North Korean behavior, and we hope that Joe Biden and his officials will speak out against it.