Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying is deciding whether to appeal his 20-year sentence for national security offenses, with a speedy pardon considered unlikely.

There is this old British chestnut that says justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done. Justice has been amply served in the 20-year sentence handed down to former media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, but it has not been seen to be done in many quarters, especially in the West. There is the reality of justice and the appearance of it, and the two don’t always or even usually coincide. There are two main reasons behind the widespread Western criticism of Lai’s case. One is that...

The Chinese foreign ministry’s arm in Hong Kong has lodged “solemn representations” with local envoys for Britain, the US, Australia and the EU over remarks made by their officials and politicians about the sentencing of former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying. The Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong issued a statement on Saturday, saying it had summoned representatives from the countries and the bloc on Wednesday and Thursday. “The commissioner’s office lodged solemn...