For the past two years, my father (Jimmy Lai) has been on trial under Hong Kong’s arbitrary and draconian national security law…. His skin is drying up, his nails are changing colour before falling off, and his teeth are decaying. His eyes are often dry and bloodshot.

– Claire Lai, The Washington Post, 9th December 2025

Lai was the owner of Apple Daily, the largest pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong. Mere words of concern from the UK government are not enough when it comes to his political imprisonment in Hong Kong. The UK Government needs to take action to end impunity in the prosecution of journalists who often took the very last stand reporting from the ground. This is important; otherwise, we are promoting abandonment at the first instance of conflict.

Founded in 1995, Apple Daily was once the bulwark of pro-democracy movements in the territory until its forced closure by the Hong Kong authorities. It was particularly important during the 2014 and 2019 protests, as it served as a platform to showcase how civic, organised, and coordinated Hong Kong’s democratic movements were. It also kept its liberal values consistent throughout its 30-year history.

It was the only newspaper in Hong Kong that expressed optimism when Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian was re-elected in 2004.

In 2019, Apple Daily was an award winner of the Hong Kong Human Rights Press Awards for its reporting on Liu Xia, the wife of Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo.

The newspaper was also a major vehicle for holding government officials accountable and kept the Hong Kong civil service transparent in providing public services. The most significant cases included its reporting on Legislative Council member Cheng Kai-nam for failing to report a conflict of interest in 2000, which led to his arrest on corruption charges; and former Financial Secretary Antony Leung for avoiding tax when purchasing a car, which led to his resignation soon afterwards.

Things would have been very different from the cover-up Hongkongers currently face following the devastating Tai Po apartment fire, which killed more than 150 people. If Apple Daily still existed, renovation work like this would have been exposed before it happened. A democratic uproar over corruption in contract bidding and the falsification of safety certificates may have prevented the tragedy.

The newspaper also served as a career-launching platform for many young journalists and writers. One may argue that the newspaper introduced tabloid-style reporting in Hong Kong, but it liberalised the city’s mass media at a time when more news outlets were becoming socially conservative or pro-establishment.

Jimmy Lai had a chance to escape from the territory after the demise of his newspaper, but he chose to remain in Hong Kong because ‘he did not want to “disgrace himself” or “discredit Apple Daily”’ (SCMP, December 2024). In his words, he is fighting for democracy in a different way.

This made him and his colleagues priority targets of the Hong Kong authorities following the imposition of the National Security Law. But if journalists had not taken the final stand, would ordinary citizens have had the same opportunity to seek safe routes out of the city, such as the BN(O) visa scheme?

Too often, journalists are left behind while those who endanger them go unpunished. It is time we recognise the efforts of journalists and editors who prolonged freedom during its demise and gave opportunities for freedom to continue in a new home.

* Larry Ngan is a member of Federal International Relations Committee, Chair, Liberal International British Group and Liberal Democrats Friends of Hong Kong