Overview
- A panel of three government‑vetted judges called Lai the mastermind of collusion and sedition conspiracies, set a higher starting sentence, then reduced it for his age and health, ordering 18 years to run consecutively to an existing 5‑year‑9‑month fraud term.
- Six former Apple Daily executives and two activists received prison terms ranging from six years and three months to 10 years, with some reductions for guilty pleas and cooperation as prosecution witnesses.
- Lai, 78, was convicted in December of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and to publish seditious articles, marking the longest sentence to date under the 2020 national security law.
- Governments and rights groups, including Taiwan’s president and the U.S. secretary of state, condemned the ruling and urged Lai’s release or humanitarian parole, while Hong Kong and Beijing rejected claims the case targets press freedom.
- China released a white paper the day after sentencing that framed safeguarding national security as a long‑term task, as Hong Kong journalists reported a deepening climate of self‑censorship following closures such as Apple Daily and Stand News.