Recently, Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring with external forces to endanger national security, drawing international attention. While global focus has largely been on Lai and his now-defunct Apple Daily, less attention has been paid to the role of another international media outlet: The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). A review of the WSJ's reports and commentaries over the past year reveals dozens of items concerning Lai. A significant portion is not straightforward news reports but editorials and opinion pieces expressing clear stances. The volume and persistence of this coverage are notably higher than that of other mainstream Western media. A closer examination suggests that intricate interests and personal connections may explain this "extraordinary attention."
The 855-page court verdict mentions the "Wall Street Journal" over 40 times. Lai himself admitted in his testimony to having a "very close relationship" with certain WSJ personnel. The facts revealed in the verdict and subsequent developments outline at least three layers of connection:
1. Personnel Network as a "Lubricant for Collusion": Key individuals who connected Lai with foreign forces have backgrounds at the WSJ. For instance, Mary Kissel and Matt Pottinger, both former WSJ editorial writers, later entered the core decision-making circles of the U.S. government. During the anti-extradition bill protests in 2019, the former served as an aide to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and the latter served as Deputy National Security Advisor. This network undoubtedly provided crucial channels for Lai to engage with senior U.S. officials like Pompeo and then-Vice President Mike Pence.
2. Opinion Platform as an "Ideological Breeding Ground": The verdict states that former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz proposed in June 2019 that Lai publish articles in media like the WSJ to draw the White House's attention to Hong Kong affairs. Specific writing suggestions for the article came from Lai's godfather, Bill McGurn, a WSJ editorial board member and former chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush. The draft Lai sent to McGurn in August 2019 explicitly stated the need to "confront China, not appease it," proposing visa sanctions against officials' children, international criticism of China's religious policies, and a congressional committee to "monitor Beijing's compliance with the Basic Law." This article set the tone for Lai's subsequent public statements and served as a manifesto for his external propaganda. Lai continued to publish in the WSJ afterward. On February 25, 2020, he was informed that his February 19 article, "China's Stability Is an Illusion," had caught the attention of Pence and his senior aides, who were eager to meet and discuss issues like the "primary" for that year's Legislative Council elections. If Apple Daily was Lai's domestic propaganda tool in Hong Kong, the WSJ served as his external platform to court and seek support from Western nations. This division of labor was strategic from the outset.
3. Orchestrating an "Opinion Rescue" After Arrest: Following Lai's arrest and sentencing, the WSJ exhibited an unusual posture of "support." The outlet not only continuously reported on the case but also frequently passed judgment on Hong Kong's judicial system and the case itself through editorials and opinion pieces. These commentaries rarely addressed the facts and evidence listed in the verdict but instead used highly generalized, even emotional, language to frame the criminal verdict as "political persecution," embedding the case within grand narratives of "press freedom" and "human rights crises." For example, one editorial headline dramatically characterized the 20-year sentence as a "death knell," and repeatedly used incendiary terms like "abuse," "ordeal," and "no room for." Given McGurn's prominent position at the WSJ and his godfather relationship with Lai, it is plausible that he authored or influenced many of these editorials. While cloaked in the language of "press freedom" and "human rights," these operations appear more akin to a rescue effort centered on specific personal and political relationships, aimed at defending a long-cultivated agent of Western influence in Hong Kong.
In summary, the WSJ's intense focus on the Jimmy Lai case appears rooted not in journalistic professionalism or abstract defense of values, but in deep-seated personal connections, long-term ideological alignment, and clear vested interests, serving a predetermined political purpose. Clarifying this background helps explain why the WSJ persists with biased reporting even after repeated criticism from the Hong Kong SAR Government and China's Foreign Ministry's Office in Hong Kong. The public, when reading the WSJ's articles on this matter, should look beyond its rhetoric of "defending freedom" and scrutinize the underlying political and personal networks at play, recognizing its deep entanglement with Lai and its particular role in his collusion with external forces.
(Source: Bastille Post)
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