A few weeks ago, A Chinese court sentenced businessman and politician Jimmy Lai to 20 years in jail. Because Lai is 78 years old, this amounts to a lifetime sentence.

Of course, jailing dissidents is a standard operating procedure for Communist dictatorships, but Lai is no standard dissident. A billionaire with connections around the world, he could have escaped to Paris, the U.S., or the Caribbean. Instead, he chose to stay in his adopted home of Hong Kong, even after Beijing took control. As Mark Clifford put it in an appropriately named book about Lai, The Troublemaker:

Instead of fleeing, he doubled down. In his last five months of freedom, he livestreamed weekly video programs featuring politicians, diplomats, journalists, and religious figures. He preferred to go to jail for freedom and democracy rather than abandon the city that, he says, “gave me everything.”

Lai was born in the late 1940s between the end of World War II and the Chinese Revolution. As a child, his mother was persecuted by the Communist authorities, and he witnessed the beginnings of the state-sponsored famine of 1958 to 1962 that claimed tens of millions of lives. In search of a better life, he snuck into the British territory of Hong Kong with only a few dollars in his pocket.

After sleeping on the floor of the textile factory where he worked, Lai eventually moved up to management and finally ownership. Self-made and self-taught, he continued to expand his business interests, even to the point of supplying department stores across the United States. Still not satisfied, Lai established a weekly magazine and a daily newspaper.

Though both reflected a “if it bleeds, it leads” tabloid style of journalism, they also covered Lai’s growing philosophy about free markets, free elections, and free speech. Especially after his conversion to Christianity, Lai’s publications have defended democracy, freedom of religion, and human rights.

When Britain handed Hong Kong to China in 1997, the deal was known as “two systems, one country.” While China would remain Communist, Hong Kong would retain its unique liberties. Many in the West assumed that Beijing would never risk its golden goose by altering the deal.

In 2020, as the world was distracted by Covid, the National Security Law was enforced in Hong Kong. Elections, freedom of the press and association, and trials by jury were among the rights dropped in the name of protecting citizens. All the while, Jimmy Lai stood for and with the people of Hong Kong. He supported Hong Kongers as they protested, not only with his media empire, but also with his financial backing, and even his physical presence on the streets.

It’s difficult to understand why Beijing would demand such complete loyalty, but that’s a consistent characteristic of dictatorships. Dissent is not an option. Dissenters are punished. A worldview that embraces truth as being higher than the leader and the movement is its greatest threat. As Francis Schaeffer wrote, “No totalitarian authority nor authoritarian state can tolerate those who have an absolute by which to judge that state and its actions.”

Given the geopolitical situation and Beijing’s commitment to make an example of him, Lai is unlikely to ever again see the freedom for which he has fought for so long. We should pray for him in his confinement and ensure that his story is not forgotten to the world. And we should also imitate him by insisting on those things that are eternal and true. After all, every Christian is called to live out our convictions, even if it costs us as much as it has cost Jimmy Lai.

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