Jimmy Lai’s 20-Year Term Follows a Familiar Chinese Pattern

Jimmy Lai’s 20-Year Term Follows a China Playbook For Punishing CriticsThe heavy sentence for the Hong Kong publisher aligns with mainland cases where influential critics of the Communist Party have been sent to prison for many years.Jimmy Lai in 2020.Credit...Anthony Kwan/Getty ImagesFeb. 8, 2026, 10:22 p.m. ETJimmy Lai’s 20-year prison sentence, the heaviest penalty handed down for a national security offense in Hong Kong so far, aligns with how the Chinese Communist Party has punished wealthy entrepreneurs and influential academics in the mainland for challenging the state.Xi Jinping, the most powerful Chinese leader in decades, has waged a far-reaching crackdown on any vestiges of dissent. He has targeted not only human rights activists but also business tycoons, intellectuals and members of the party elite, some of whom have been sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison.Here is how Mr. Lai’s punishment compares with some of the cases that have been prosecuted since Mr. Xi came to power:Ilham Tohti, an economics professor who advocated for Uyghurs in China’s far western Xinjiang region, was sentenced to life in prison on charges of separatism in 2014.Ren Zhiqiang, a property tycoon and former friend of senior officials, was known for his blunt criticisms of the Communist Party. He published an essay in which he appeared to call Mr. Xi a “a clown” over the party’s handling of Covid-19. In 2020, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for graft, misusing public funds, and abusing his power during and after his time as an executive at a property development company.ImageRen Zhiqiang in 2012.Credit...Color China Photo, via Associated PressSun Dawu, a rural tycoon who had cultivated an image of generosity and had a large following, was a vocal critic of Chinese government policies like its early handling of Covid-19. In 2021, Sun was sentenced to 18 years in prison for organizing people to attack state agencies, obstructing public affairs and provoking quarrels.Li Huaiqing, a businessman who shared social media messages critical of the party, was sentenced in 2020 to 20 years in prison for fraud, extortion and “inciting subversion of state power.”Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, prominent human rights lawyers, were sentenced to 14 years and 12 years in prison in 2023 after they organized a gathering of lawyers and activists in the coastal city of Xiamen in 2019.ImageXu Zhiyong in 2013.Credit...via ReutersForty-seven opposition figures in Hong Kong, including politicians, academics and activists, were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion in 2021 for holding an unofficial primary vote to select opposition candidates to run in elections. While two were acquitted, the rest were sentenced to be between four years and 10 years in prison.Lily Kuo is a China correspondent for The Times, based in Taipei.SKIP