Lai's supporters say this amounts to a death sentence, but authorities say it demonstrates the rule of law.
Watch LiveBritish Broadcasting CorporationHomeNewsSportBusinessTechnologyHealthCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveDocumentariesHomeNewsUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessWorld of BusinessTechnology of BusinessNYSE Opening BellTechnologyWatch DocumentariesArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindHealthWatch DocumentariesCultureWatch DocumentariesFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsWatch DocumentariesArts in MotionTravelWatch DocumentariesDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthWatch DocumentariesScienceNatural WondersClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingAudioPodcast CategoriesRadioAudio FAQsVideoWatch DocumentariesBBC MaestroDiscover the WorldLiveLive NewsLive SportDocumentariesHomeNewsSportBusinessTechnologyHealthCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveDocumentariesWeatherNewslettersWatch LiveHong Kong pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai gets 20 years' jail12 minutes agoShareSavePhoebe Kong,Hong Kong,Danny VincentandKelly NgShareSaveBBC reports from outside court after Jimmy Lai sentencingJimmy Lai, Hong Kong's pro-democracy media tycoon, has been jailed for 20 years for colluding with foreign forces under the city's controversial national security law.
Rights groups called it a death sentence for the 78-year-old, whose family has raised concerns about his health, but Hong Kong's leader said it was "deeply gratifying".
This is the harshest punishment to be handed down under the law, which China imposed after huge protests in 2019 demanding more freedom, and defends as essential for the city's stability.
Lai, a British citizen, is the most prominent of the hundreds arrested under the law. A fierce critic of China, he often wielded his paper, Apple Daily, as a tool of protest.
"It is incredibly heartbreaking," Lai's son, Sebastien, told the BBC's Today programme, adding that he had repeatedly raised Lai's imprisonment with the UK government but "obviously my father is still in prison".
Sebastien Lai and others have criticised Prime Minister Keir Starmer's recent visit to China as a wasted opportunity.
The sentence "signifies the total destruction of the Hong Kong legal system and the end of justice", Lai's son Sebastien said.
Hong Kong authorities and China's foreign ministry, however, insist the Lai's sentencing demonstrates the city's rule of law. In sentencing Lai, the judges condemned his "serious and grave criminal conduct" and said he was involved in conspiracies that were of the "most serious" category.
On Monday morning, ahead of sentencing, there was a heavy police presence around the court.
But there were also throngs of Lai's supporters, some of them having camped out for days hoping to get inside for his sentencing.
"I just wish to greet Mr Lai in person in court... That's all I ask for, because I think it will be the last time I see him," said one supporter, who said he'd stood in line since Thursday night.
Inside, Lai, who wore a white jacket and black glasses, smiled brightly at his family and other suppo
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