Image source, PA Media

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper says the UK will "rapidly engage" with the Chinese government over Jimmy Lai's sentencing after the pro-democracy media tycoon was jailed for 20 years.

"For the 78-year-old, this is tantamount to a life sentence. I remain deeply concerned for Mr Lai’s health," Cooper says in a statement, adding that she calls on the Hong Kong authorities "to end his appalling ordeal and release him on humanitarian grounds, so that he may be reunited with his family".

Cooper says Lai was jailed "for exercising his right to freedom of expression, following a politically motivated prosecution".

"Beijing’s National Security Law was imposed on Hong Kong to silence China’s critics," she says.

Cooper says the prime minister had raised Lai's case directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his Beijing trip.

Earlier on the Today programme, Sebastien Lai suggested a way to improve UK-China relations would be to have his father released to the UK.

He expands on this while speaking to the BBC's Breakfast programme, saying his father's sentencing "tells you all you need to know" about relations between both countries.

"If they can't even put a 78-year-old man, who is guilty of nothing more than giving all that he has, to stand up for the freedom and liberty for the people of Hong Kong on the plane and sending him back here now, especially given his deteriorating health, then that tells you all you need to know about the relationship we have with China," he says.

Asked whether he has a direct message for anything listening "who may be able to do something about this", Sebastien Lai says his father "decided to dedicate his life to defending the freedoms of Hong Kong".

"For that heroism, he's being punished, he's essentially getting a death sentence for that," he tells the Today programme.

"Surely a man who has given so much for liberty, for freedom, deserves a bit of it himself."

Earlier in the interview Sebastien Lai referred to the UK government's aim of normalising relations with Beijing, following Prime Minister Keir Starmer's recent trip to China.

Lai suggested a way to do that would be to have his father released to the UK.

Jimmy Lai's son, Sebastien Lai, has just spoken to BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Responding to his father's 20-year sentence, Lai says "it is incredibly heartbreaking" and they had expected this would happen, but did not expect it would take five years for his sentence to be handed down.

"Even if he got another two, three years, given his health, given that he has heart issues, given that he has lost 10kg in the last year alone, that's basically a death sentence," he says about any additional time his father spends in prison.

Asked what the British government has said to him about securing his father's freedom, Lai says the government has raised the issue but "obviously my father is still in prison".

Lai says the government said his father's case was "raised at the highest level" but his father is still not free.

Amnesty International has joined a chorus of voices from human rights and media organisations condemning the 20-year sentence handed to Jimmy Lai this morning.

“This sentencing marks another grim milestone in Hong Kong’s transformation from a city governed by the rule of law to one ruled by fear," said Amnesty international's deputy regional director Sarah Brooks.

"Imprisoning a 78-year-old man for doing nothing more than exercising his rights shows a complete disregard for human dignity. Every day he spends in behind bars is a grave injustice.

“With this ruling we see yet again how Hong Kong’s National Security Law is being used to distort fundamental freedoms into criminal acts. Jimmy Lai’s imprisonment is a cold-blooded attack of freedom of expression that epitomises the systematic dismantling of rights that once defined Hong Kong."

She said the Hong Kong authorities must immediately and unconditionally release him.

Speaking at a daily briefing on Monday afternoon local time, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian expressed the ministry's "firm support for the Hong Kong government in maintaining national security".

He characterised Lai as a "a principal planner and participant in a series of anti-China, destabilising activities in Hong Kong".

"His actions have severely undermined the fundamental principles of 'one country, two systems', seriously endangered national security, and gravely harmed Hong Kong’s prosperity, stability, and the well-being of its citizens," Lin said. "He should be duly punished under the law."

Referring to comments made by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump, both of whom have advocated for Lai's release, Lin urged "the countries concerned to respect China’s sovereignty and Hong Kong’s legal system, refrain from making irresponsible remarks... and not [to] interfere in Hong Kong’s judiciary or China’s internal affairs in any form".

A former Hong Kong legislator has decried Jimmy Lai's sentencing as a harsh, "textbook political verdict".

"I feel deep sorrow and anger over the verdict," Ted Hui told the BBC's Newsday on Monday. "I think the target of the regime is not genuine criminal conduct - not at all - but voices that stood for democracy, freedom and pluralism."

The suggestion that Lai was given a fair trial, Hui added, is "laughable".

"There was no jury trial, he was not allowed to have his own lawyer, and you call this a fair trial?" he said.

"Jimmy Lai is an old man in his eighties. This is a death sentence. This is political torture, which is unacceptable internationally."

Image source, Getty Images

In the lead-up to Lai's sentencing, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the UK government had been criticised for not doing enough to advocate for the 78-year-old's release.

Following Keir Starmer's visit to Beijing in late January - the first by a British Prime Minister in eight years - the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arbitrary Detention and Hostage Affairs issued a statement saying that “an opportunity to secure [Jimmy Lai’s] release has been squandered by weak diplomacy”.

“These opportunities will cost Jimmy Lai his life,” the group said.

Days after Starmer's Beijing visit, Lai's son Sebastien also denounced it as a wasted opportunity.

“If it is so important, then surely there should be some conditionalities put on my father’s release," the younger Lai said last week at a parliamentary hearing on his father’s case, according to The Guardian.

"The trip was a big thing to have been given away."

The UK says it "will rapidly engage further" with Chinese authorities on Lai's case.

"British national Jimmy Lai was today sentenced to 20 years in prison... for a 78-year-old, this is tantamount to a life sentence," foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement posted by the Foreign Office on X.

"I again call on the Hong Kong authorities to end his appalling ordeal and release him on humanitarian grounds, so that he may be reunited with his family. We stand with the people of Hong Kong."

Image source, Getty Images

Hong Kong's chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu has celebrated Jimmy Lai's sentencing as "deeply gratifying", describing his crimes as "heinous" and "utterly despicable".

"For a long time, Lai used Apple Daily to poison the minds of citizens, incite hatred, distort facts, deliberately create social division, glorify violence, and openly beg external forces to sanction China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region," Lee wrote in a Facebook post on Monday afternoon.

"Jimmy Lai's heinous acts endangering national security have harmed the interests of the country and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, as well as the interests of the citizens."

Lee, who has previously welcomed convictions against Lai, also characterised today's sentencing as "a significant milestone in Hong Kong's efforts to safeguard national security".

Lai's 20-year sentence is is the harshest to be given under Hong Kong's controversial national security law.

Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in jail under Hong Kong's controversial, Beijing-imposed national security law.

Lai, 78, previously spoke to the BBC about the law and its implications for Hong Kong, while his son Sebastian warned that his father would likely die in prison if sentenced.

BBC News journalist Phoebe Kong explains how we got here.

Yvette Tan
Live editor

It's just past 13:15 in Hong Kong (05:15 GMT), and several hours since pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Here's a quick recap to get you up to speed:

• Lee was sentenced to 20 years, the harshest sentence to be given under Hong Kong's controversial national security law
• The sentencing, which comes just a few months after Lai was found guilty of national security offences in December, was over in just around ten minutes
• Other defendants, including six former Apple Daily executives and two activists who were also in court today, received sentences ranging from six years to 10 years
• A number of human rights and media organisations have condemned Lai's sentence and called on the governments of China and Hong Kong to free him
• Law's charges comprised two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the National Security Law, and one count of publishing seditious material on the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, which he founded, under a separate colonial-era law

Stay with us as we bring you more updates, reactions and analysis.

The head of Hong Kong police's National Security Department has defended Lai's 20-year sentence as "appropriate", according to Reuters.

Chief superintendent Steve Li was speaking after Lai's conviction in a Hong Kong court on Monday.

Lai, 78, received the harshest sentence to be given under Hong Kong's controversial national security law, which China says is necessary for the city's stability

Following the verdict, Li further said that claims of Lai's frail health were "exaggerated".

Lai's barrister had said he suffers from hypertension and diabetes, among other ailments, but the court said it was "not inclined" to hand Lai a lower sentence on account of his medical condition.

Image source, Getty Images

In addition to the penalties handed down to Lai on Monday, the court also convicted a number of former colleagues from his Apple Daily newspaper.

Those affiliated with Apple Daily included former editor-in-chief Ryan Law Wai-kwong, former executive editor-in-chief Lam Man-chung, former senior editorial writer Fung Wai-kong, former lead editorial writer Yeung Ching-kee, former associate publisher Chan Pui-man, and Cheung Kim-hung, former chief executive of Next Digital, the media company that owned Apple Daily.

Yeung, Chan and Cheung were considered "accomplice witnesses": they not only pleaded guilty but also gave evidence for the prosecution, and were therefore given reduced sentences, according to court documents.

Law, Lam and Fung did not give evidence or assist the prosecution, and so each of their sentences was reduced to the statutory minimum of 10 years’ imprisonment for their guilty pleas.

Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, who leads Jimmy Lai’s international legal team, had spoken to the BBC ahead of the sentencing.

"This has been a show trial from the start - the script is already written. We know a draconian sentence is coming," Gallagher said.

Lai's international legal team was not allowed to defend him in court.

After Lai's sentence was announced, Gallagher said it marked a "final blow to the rule of law in Hong Kong".

“Sentencing Jimmy Lai – already aged 78 – to two decades behind bars is an affront to justice, and the culmination of over five years of malicious lawfare against a courageous, elderly British citizen and prisoner of conscience.

Now that this sham trial is finally over, we call on leaders from around the world to speak with one voice in their demand for China to free Jimmy Lai so he can come home to his family in London at last.”

Two years out of Lai's 20-year sentence will coincide with his existing prison term – for fraud and unauthorised assemblies – which means he will serve an additional 18 years.

This also means he could be 96 by the time he is released in 2044.

That said, prisoners are typically given a one-third remission of their jail term for good conduct. If granted this, Lai could be released around 2037 or 2038, by which he would have turned 90.

Phoebe Kong
BBC Chinese

A former Apple Daily staffer was in tears when she told me today’s sentencing, which she said was much harsher than she had expected.

Six senior executives of Apple Daily - a tabloid paper which was openly critical of Beijing - were also sentenced in court today, receiving sentences of between six to 10 years.

The former staffer, who didn't want to be named, said she had worked with all of them.

“They were just working in the media profession." she said, adding that it was a "sad day" for the industry.

The government of Taiwan has responded to Jimmy Lai's sentencing, highlighting it as "a lesson" for the Taiwanese people and condemning the governments of China and Hong Kong.

Lai's case demonstrates that under the "one country, two systems model of governance, the freedoms and rights promised to the people of Hong Kong are little more than empty words", Taiwan authorities said in a statement.

The people of Taiwan, it added, should "take Hong Kong's painful experience as a lesson and safeguard the hard-won freedoms of daily life".

Taiwan's government called on China and Hong Kong to "cease the political persecution and immediately release Lai".

Danny Vincent
Reporting from court

When I spoke to Jimmy Lai in 2020 while he was out on bail he told me that if he ended up imprisoned, he would consider it as a way of "living his life meaningfully".

I’ve seen letters and drawings from Lai in prison. His family say his mind is strong but his body is breaking down. His daughter told me that there were times he cancelled appointments to see her because he simply wasn’t well enough.

The authorities insist he received adequate care in prison. But his family say he is now effectively facing a death sentence.

On the ground, some supporters say they are shocked by the sentence he has received, given his age.

"You would never think that a man who publishes newspapers would go to jail," one says.

Image source, Getty Images

We've just received a statement from Lai's children criticising the "draconian sentence".

"Today is a dark day for anyone who believes in truth, freedom and justice," his son Sebastien says. "It signifies the total destruction of the Hong Kong legal system and the end of justice."

Lai's daughter Claire described it as a "heartbreakingly cruel" sentence, adding that she has seen her father's health deteriorate over the last five years.

"If this sentence is carried out, he will die a martyr behind bars," she says.