Jimmy Lai’s actions are threats to the one-party dictatorship, not China’s national security

Following the mass-arrest of Jimmy Lai and 6 other individuals related to him and his company, Next Digital, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy politician and solicitor Albert Ho said that the scale of the arrest is shocking to many in Hong Kong, and he believed the mass-arrest is part of Beijing’s responses to Washington’s imposition of sanctions on 11 Chinese and Hong Kong officials.

Question: Jimmy Lai and 6 other people were arrested this morning in a mass-arrest targeting his company, Next Digital. How do you view the incident and the charges laid out against him?

Albert Ho: This is certainly a big news not only for Hong Kong but also for the world. The scale of the police operation was really terrifying. They don’t need to deploy 200 policemen to Next Digital’s building and conduct the search. It’s totally unnecessary. I think this move is intended to scare people.

I believe this is the first time that the police used a warrant under the national security law without having to go to court. This is simply a police warrant. I’m not fully aware of the substance of the charges laid out against Jimmy Lai. However, it looks really weird that they are invoking offenses under the national security law as well as commercial fraud.

I can hardly see how these two charges would be mingled together. We are waiting to see what are the substances and what are the evidence that triggered this large-scale investigation, arrest, search and detention. Many people do feel that this move is an act of retaliation against the US government.

The aspect of collusion with foreign power must be related to a foreign element, and it seems to us that the mass-arrest is mainly done not only to intimidate Hong Kong people and silence the press, but also to retaliate against the US government, which imposed sanctions on 11 Chinese and Hong Kong officials for imposing the national security law on Hong Kong.

Question: The Hong Kong government has launched a series of moves over the last few weeks, including arrests of students, disqualification of pro-democracy candidates, the postponement of election and now a mass-arrest against members from a news organization. How do you assess these moves?

Albert Ho: We thought that this would come as a matter of time, especially against Jimmy Lai and his news organization. At that time, we didn’t envisage what sort of action would the Hong Kong government adopt and what would be the scale of their actions.

Now, we can see the scale of the operation seeking to not only arrest Jimmy Lai but also his two sons and the top management staff of Next Digital. We didn’t expect that the actions would come at such scale. It is very intimidating and scary. As I said, this is probably a response to the US imposition of sanctions on the 11 officials. This has probably prompted the Hong Kong government to make a decision so abruptly against Jimmy Lai.

Most of us are a little bit shocked by this but we don’t know how this is going to develop. We are very doubtful whether the police have already possessed sufficient evidence to support the charges against Jimmy Lai and others involved.

Question: Jimmy Lai, Martin Lee, Anson Chan and you were branded by China’s state media as the four “leaders” who are leading the disruption of Hong Kong. After seeing Lai being arrested by the police today, are you worried that you could also be charged under the national security law?

Albert Ho: I’m apprehensive of the danger of myself being arrested at any point. I’m also aware of the fact that the government has made it clear that the national security law is not going to be applied retrospectively. It seems that the government will like to use the law as a way to scare away the opponents and dissidents. Anyone who dares to engage in activities that crossed the red line will face repression from the government through the national security law.

I’m still waiting to see what sort of evidence they have collected against Jimmy Lai with regard to this incident. Having said that, if they want to frame charges against me, they can easily do it. Regardless, I have decided to stay in Hong Kong because of my commitment to the city, my local community and my country, which is China.

I firmly believe that what I have been doing throughout the last few decades is to advocate a peaceful change in my country. I believe in democracy and I believe that the one-party dictatorship should go. It should be replaced peacefully and orderly by a democratic system. If this constitutes a charge under the national security law that is good enough to put me in jail, let it be.

I won’t be scared and I won’t flee from Hong Kong in order to avoid the charges that would be laid against me because of my conscience advocating for democracy in China.

Question: Witnessing Hong Kong’s values and systems disappearing at such a speed, what would be your advice for people in Hong Kong who hope to continue to exercise their rights and freedom under such circumstances?

Albert Ho: On the surface, that seems to be the predicament we are facing. Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city, and we have a very dynamic civil society. Many people in Hong Kong are fully aware of the values that we have to embrace in order to sustain Hong Kong in a way that people have been used to.

Just look at today, the market value of Jimmy Lai’s company has risen several folds. This is the indication that Hong Kong people are showing their full support for Jimmy Lai. I think this is really encouraging and touching to see the aspiration and passion of the Hong Kong people. While Hong Kong is repressed, but at the same time, we also understand that the Chinese Communist Party is also under tremendous pressure from both within the country and outside of the country.

It seems that the situation has come to a point where the leadership finds it hard to think whether they can sustain this way of ruling the country. I think we would never rule out the possibility that there may be a change in China, but most importantly, people who believe in this universal value and the need to sustain Hong Kong as a free, cosmopolitan city must stand firm. That’s what we believe in.

Question: You have known Jimmy Lai for many years. How would you describe him based on your years of understanding about him?

Albert Ho: He is certainly a courageous person. He is a successful entrepreneur and a successful businessman. However, he still decides to fight for the freedom of the country and fight for the future of Hong Kong even at the risk of having to go to jail.

In the past, he received many offers for taking over his enterprise in billions of dollars. But to him, he has never been moved by this. He has a strong commitment to Hong Kong, Hong Kong’s people and also to his own country China. It is very upsetting to suggest that what he has been doing is threatening the security of the country. What he has been doing is to fight for a bright future of China.

We believe in democracy and we think it is the only way for China to be able to sustain long-term peace and progress. People can really enjoy a good life. His actions are no more than causing a threat to the one party dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party. It is not endangering the security of the country, but rather, it is threatening the one-party dictatorship. Maybe all of us will now be punished for doing this.

This interview was first published in Mandarin on DW’s Chinese website.