Jimmy Lai Conviction

Lord Alton of Liverpool Excerpts

Wednesday 17th December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, I first draw attention to my roles as a vice-chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong, as a patron of Hong Kong Watch and as chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, which published a report on transnational repression earlier this year and specifically called for China to be included in the advanced higher tier of the foreign influence registration scheme, referred to by the noble Earl, Lord Courtown. The noble Lord, Lord Oates, referred to Carmen Lau. One of the witnesses we had before that committee was Chloe Cheung, who came to this country as a young girl of 14 years of age, and at 19 years of age had a bounty of 1 million Hong Kong dollars placed on her head along with Carmen Lau and other British residents. This is a very serious situation, and I hope the Minister will respond to the point about FIRS when she comes to reply.

Jimmy Lai is a British citizen, and I know him and his family. I have immense admiration for his courage, honesty and integrity. I fear that unless he is released, this outrageous conviction will prove to be a death sentence. Jimmy Lai’s only crime has been to speak the truth, to believe in democracy, to champion freedom and to defend the British-China treaty, which guaranteed “one country, two systems” and has been broken again and again. What more are we doing to secure unhindered access to Jimmy Lai’s medics, pastor, consular officials and loved ones? Does the Minister agree that this sham trial has nothing to do with justice and resembles Lewis Carroll’s parody of nonsensical justice based on verdict first, trial later, with the outcome always a foregone conclusion?

Since Lenin introduced show trials in 1922, Stalin, Mao Tse-Tung and today’s CCP leaders have perfected a technique of gross judicial theatre to spread terror and to inculcate fear. Does the Minister agree that the remaining British and Australian judges who lend respectability to these star chambers should follow Lord Sumption and remove themselves forthwith? In Hong Kong, rule of law has been replaced by rule by law. What are we doing to raise the cases of hundreds of pro-democracy supporters, such as Joshua Wong and Andy Li, who continue to languish in CCP prisons, many on national security charges that range from the draconian to the ludicrous? Will the Prime Minister please think again about going to China until Jimmy Lai has been released from these wretched prison conditions and allowed to leave and be reunited with his family?

[Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws (Lab)]

My Lords—