It's all over but the shouting for Jimmy Lai.

Hong Kong's High Court this week jailed the former media boss for 20 years, after convicting him last December on two conspiracy counts of collusion with foreign forces and a third of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious articles.

The sentence is severe, the toughest to date under the national security law that Beijing imposed to end months of anti-government and anti-China protest chaos across the city in 2019 and 2020. At age 78, Lai is likely to spend the rest of his life behind bars now. 

The outcome was never in doubt for anyone who followed his trial, covered comprehensively by the South China Morning Post over the 156 days that it lasted. The prosecution provided overwhelming evidence as to how Lai had used his now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid, wealth, and network of international contacts to seek Western sanctions and punitive action against the local and central governments at the cost of hurting his home city and its people.

Despite an orchestrated campaign by anti-China governments and politicians to intimidate the judges with threats of sanctions, combined with Western media attempts to discredit the proceedings, the trial was conducted in the open and by the book, with 52 days dedicated to Lai's defence.

China's critics are now demanding the jailed businessman-activist's immediate release, claiming he is a victim of political persecution and that his jailing signals the death of media freedom in the city. 

The irony of it all is that Lai was never prosecuted for his political beliefs, fighting for greater democracy or even his hatred of the Communist Party of China – the judges made it clear and demonstrated in practice that he was made to pay for clearly defined crimes against national security.

There's a lot of wishful and even ignorant talk about how Lai could still be released early with Beijing using his freedom as leverage in geopolitical wrestling and trade tussles with the US. 

One clear indication this will never happen is Beijing's white paper on Hong Kong's role in safeguarding national security, timed to release a day after Lai's sentencing. The paper makes it clear that the central government expects Hong Kong to fulfil its non-negotiable responsibility and constitutional duty on the national security front, and the "struggle" will be a "long-term and enduring task".

Would it make sense for all that to be undermined by post-sentencing leniency for the biggest offender?

Politics

• Are Hong Kong lawmakers also to blame over seat belt law blunder?

   

• UK expands BN(O) scheme to more Hongkongers following Jimmy Lai sentencing

   

• CK Hutchison pursues ‘all legal options’ on Panama ports, invites consultations

   

• HK$20 vs HK$200: how Hong Kong’s Christine Fong underspent rivals in Legco race

   

• Hong Kong to recruit 2 civil service directors with ‘political acumen’

Society

• Hong Kong to soon unveil rehousing plans for Wang Fuk Court residents: city leader

   

• School system not to blame for record low 31,100 births in Hong Kong: minister

   

• Raw oysters from France linked to food poisoning cases in Hong Kong: source

   

• Hong Kong lawmakers call for greater scrutiny of flat owners’ proxies

   

• Suspected illegal cleaning services targeting Hongkongers still listed online

Law and crime

• Scam cases fall for first time in Hong Kong since 2019, annual figures show

   

• Hong Kong fugitive’s father guilty of trying to cash out her insurance policy

   

• 22 arrested as Hong Kong’s ICAC raids firms linked to shady renovation deals

   

• Hong Kong businessman charged with providing surrogacy services overseas

   

• Retiree who left urine-spiked drinks in Hong Kong supermarkets spared prison

Economy

• Hollywood stars to headline Hong Kong’s first Comic Con

   

• Hong Kong braces for 11.38 million trips during Lunar New Year travel rush

   

• Hong Kong stepping up as global arbitration hub, deputy justice secretary says

   

• How Hongkongers are using a longer Lunar New Year break for travel

   

• West Kowloon arts hub seeks US$1 billion in first bond sale to fund operations

Business and property

• Chinese cars now can’t be sold for less than it costs to make them

   

• China’s MiniMax releases AI model ‘designed for real-world productivity’

   

• ‘More than 600%’ memory price spike rattles China’s phone and broadband makers

   

• Li Ka-shing tops Hong Kong’s billionaire list with US$45.1 billion: Forbes

   

• Hong Kong tycoon Joseph Lau’s kin sell Mid-Levels flat for US$12.8 million

3 things to do this weekend

-  Curated by Kevin Kwong and Enid Tsui from our Culture desk

• Two remote Hong Kong villages helping to revive the Hakka way of life

   

• Film review: "The Snowball on a Sunny Day" doubles as love letter to cinema

   

• Hong Kong Ballet and Pure Fitness join forces to offer new exercise programme