Prosecutors said Lai was the mastermind behind two conspiracies to ask foreign countries to sanction, blockade or take action against Hong Kong or China, and accused him of publishing material that "excited disaffection" against the government.
The 78-year-old, who pleaded not guilty, faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced. He can appeal against the convictions.
"There is no doubt that (Lai) had harboured his resentment and hatred of the PRC," Judge Esther Toh told the court, referring to the People's Republic of China.
She said he had invited the United States "to help bring down" the Chinese government, "with the excuse of helping the people of HK".
Lai is a British citizen, and the UK government condemned his "politically motivated prosecution" in a statement on Monday that called for his release.
The media mogul, wearing a light green cardigan and grey jacket, listened impassively as the verdicts were read out.
He nodded to his wife Teresa and his son Lai Shun-yan in the public gallery as he left the court, an AFP reporter saw.
Defence lawyer Robert Pang told reporters that Lai was "in fine spirits" and that they would need to read the 886-page verdict before deciding on their next steps.
US, EU and French consular representatives were in court, as well as veterans from Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp, including Cardinal Joseph Zen and former legislator Emily Lau.
Australia's foreign ministry expressed "strong objections" to the "broad application" of a national security law that was imposed by Beijing after huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Beijing hit back at the international criticism, saying it opposed the "smearing of the judicial system in Hong Kong by certain countries".
Its government supports Hong Kong in "punishing criminal acts that endanger national security", foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular news conference.
- 'Dismaying' -
Lai, who founded the now-shut Apple Daily newspaper, has been behind bars since 2020.
His case has been widely criticised as an example of eroding political freedoms under the national security law.
"The predictability of today's verdict does not make it any less dismaying -- the conviction of Jimmy Lai feels like the death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong," Amnesty International said in a statement.
Reporters Without Borders condemned the "unlawful conviction", while the Committee to Protect Journalists called it a "sham".
The Hong Kong Journalists Association described a Hong Kong media climate of self-censorship and fear.
Eric Lai, a research fellow in Asian law at Georgetown University, said the verdict vindicated concerns about a fair trial because "most of Jimmy Lai's acts related to foreign forces were carried out before the (security law) was enacted".
Beijing's national security agency in Hong Kong and its Liaison Office in the city both called Lai a "pawn" for anti-China forces.
A former Apple Daily employee surnamed Chan recalled before the verdicts were delivered that Lai wished for a "free and democratic China".
"He loved the country a lot, he just didn't love the regime. (The situation) is absurd," Chan told AFP.
- Health concerns -
Lai looked thinner on Monday than when he first entered custody, an AFP reporter saw, and some of his supporters who gathered at dawn in front of the court expressed concern for his well-being.
"I really want to see what's happening with 'the boss', to see if his health has deteriorated," said Tammy Cheung, who worked at Lai's newspaper for nearly two decades.
Lai's daughter Claire told AFP last week that her father, a diabetic, had "lost a very significant amount of weight" and showed signs of nail and tooth decay.
National security police chief superintendent Steve Li told reporters on Monday that Claire Lai's concerns were smearing.
Authorities have said Lai was receiving "adequate and comprehensive" care, and that he had been held in solitary confinement "at his own request".
- Sprawling trial -
Prosecutors cited 161 items Apple Daily published in their case against Lai.
Those items, including opinion articles with Lai's byline and talk shows he hosted, were deemed seditious under a colonial-era law because they "excited disaffection" against the government.
Prosecutors also accused Lai of being the mastermind and financial backer of the protest group "Stand with Hong Kong, Fight for Freedom".
Lai maintained that he never sought to influence other countries' foreign policies, saying Apple Daily represented Hongkongers' core values, including "rule of law, freedom, pursuit of democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly".
Apple Daily was forced to close in 2021 following police raids. Six top executives were charged as co-defendants and have already pleaded guilty.
What we know of Jimmy Lai's national security verdicts
Hong Kong (AFP) Dec 15, 2025 -
A Hong Kong court found pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai guilty of national security crimes on Monday, in a case that has sparked international concern over the city's political freedoms.
- What is Lai accused of doing? -
Lai was found guilty on two counts of conspiracy to foreign collusion under Hong Kong's national security law, which was imposed by Beijing in 2020 following huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests.
Offenders face up to life in prison.
Prosecutors said Lai was the mastermind behind two conspiracies to ask foreign countries to impose "sanctions or blockade" or take "hostile activities" against Hong Kong or China.
The 78-year-old founder of the Apple Daily newspaper was also convicted of one count of "conspiracy to publish seditious publications".
Prosecutors cited 161 items published on various platforms, including op-eds with Lai's byline, saying they "excited disaffection" against the government.
The colonial-era sedition offence carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail for a first offence.
- Where has Lai been? -
Lai was first arrested under the national security law in August 2020, around two months after the law took effect.
After spending some weeks on bail, Lai was taken into custody again on December 31, 2020 and has stayed behind bars ever since.
Hong Kong's top court drastically tightened bail rules for national security defendants in 2021, meaning that Lai was stuck in pre-trial custody.
His trial was set to begin in late 2022, but Hong Kong authorities sought last-minute intervention from Beijing to bar Lai's British lawyer Tim Owen.
The trial eventually started on December 18, 2023, and spanned around 150 hearing days.
Authorities confirmed that Lai was kept in solitary confinement but said this was done at his request.
His son Sebastien and daughter Claire recently raised the alarm over the mogul's health, saying that he had lost weight and had visible decay to his nails and teeth.
The Hong Kong government rejected the characterisation and said Lai has received "adequate and comprehensive" medical services behind bars.
- What happened during the trial? -
The trial featured testimony from witnesses, including Lai himself, though much time was devoted to scrutinising articles or viewing talk show footage.
Lai was accused of conspiring with Apple Daily's senior management -- six of whom were his co-defendants -- to use the news outlet as a platform for requesting sanctions.
Prosecutors named dozens of local and overseas political figures, including former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as Lai's foreign contacts and "agents", "intermediaries" or "collaborators".
Additionally, Lai was alleged to be the mastermind and backer of the protest group "Stand With Hong Kong, Fight for Freedom" (SWHK), which conducted international lobbying.
Lai hit back during his testimony that he "never" tried to influence foreign policy on Hong Kong and China via his overseas contacts.
The mogul gave his answers quickly and confidently, often jumping in before lawyers had finished asking their questions.
He drew rebukes from the three-judge panel when he described himself as a "political prisoner".
Lai told the court that his predictions about the national security law -- that it would curb liberties in Hong Kong -- had "come to pass".
- What happens after the verdict? -
On Monday morning, High Court judges Esther Toh, Alex Lee and Susana D'Almada Remedios found Lai guilty of each of the three charges.
The verdicts concerning Lai, a British citizen, are set to be a bone of contention between Beijing and Western nations such as Britain and the United States.
Sentencing will be determined at a later data after the judges hear further legal arguments.
The court has the authority to order medical reports as part of its sentencing process.
Lai can appeal the verdict, which his defence lawyer Robert Pang said he needed to further study before deciding next steps.
Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong media 'troublemaker' in Beijing's crosshairs
Hong Kong (AFP) Dec 15, 2025 -
A rags-to-riches tycoon, Hong Kong media boss Jimmy Lai is a self-styled "troublemaker" who has long been a thorn in Beijing's side with his caustic tabloids and unapologetic support for democracy.
The 78-year-old was found guilty on Monday on three charges in his national security trial widely condemned by Western nations as an attack on political liberties and press freedoms.
Lai told AFP in June 2020 he was "prepared for prison", where he has been held since late that year.
Those remarks came two weeks before Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the finance hub after huge, and sometimes violent, pro-democracy protests the previous year.
He was arrested under the new security law that August, fulfilling his prediction that he was a prime target for prosecution.
"If (prison) comes, I will have the opportunity to read books I haven't read. The only thing I can do is to be positive," he said at the time.
Few Hong Kongers generate the same level of vitriol from Beijing as Lai.
He is an unlikely hero for many in the semi-autonomous city: a pugnacious, self-made tabloid owner and the only tycoon willing to lampoon Beijing.
But according to China's state media, he is a "traitor", the biggest "black hand" behind the pro-democracy protests and the head of a new "Gang of Four" conspiring with foreign nations to undermine the motherland.
- Tiananmen watershed -
Lai rose from poverty, like many Hong Kong tycoons.
He was born into a wealthy family in mainland China's Guangdong province, but they lost their fortune when the communists took power in 1949.
Smuggled into Hong Kong aged 12, Lai toiled in sweatshops, taught himself English and eventually founded the hugely successful Giordano clothing empire.
His path diverged from his contemporaries when China sent tanks to crush protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.
He founded his first publication shortly after and wrote columns critical of senior Chinese leaders.
Authorities began closing his mainland clothing stores, so Lai sold up and ploughed the money into a tabloid empire.
Lai was the subject of other lawsuits, including one where he was acquitted of intimidating a journalist from a rival newspaper.
But his embrace of 2019's pro-democracy movement landed him in deeper trouble and he was jailed for 20 months over his participation in some rallies.
An additional fraud case over an office lease added almost six more years to his sentence.
Those cases pale in comparison to Monday's verdicts.
Lai was found guilty on two counts of "conspiracy to foreign collusion" under the national security law -- with a maximum penalty of life in prison -- and one count of "conspiracy to publish seditious publications".
He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Asked why he did not keep quiet and enjoy his wealth like Hong Kong's other tycoons, Lai said in 2020 he "just fell into it, but it feels right doing it".
"Maybe I'm a born rebel, maybe I'm someone who needs a lot of meaning to live my life besides money," he said.
- 'Delivering freedom' -
Lai also said then he had no plans to leave Hong Kong despite his wealth and the risks he faced.
"I'm a troublemaker. I came here with nothing, the freedom of this place has given me everything. Maybe it's time I paid back for that freedom by fighting for it," he said.
Lai's two primary publications -- the Apple Daily newspaper and the digital-only Next magazine -- openly backed democracy protests in a city where competitors either support Beijing or tread a far more cautious line.
The two publications were largely devoid of advertisements for years as brands steered clear of incurring Beijing's wrath. Lai plugged the losses with his own cash.
They were popular, offering a heady mix of celebrity news, sex scandals and genuine investigations.
Apple Daily was forced to close in 2021 after police raids and the arrests of senior editors. Next also closed.
Lai defended his paper during more than 40 days of spirited courtroom testimony.
"The core values of Apple Daily are actually the core values of the people of Hong Kong... (including) rule of law, freedom, pursuit of democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly," he told the court in November 2024.
"To participate in delivering freedom is a very good idea for me," Lai said.
"The more you are in the know, the more you are free."
Hong Kong's oldest pro-democracy party announces dissolution
Hong Kong (AFP) Dec 14, 2025 -
Hong Kong's oldest pro-democracy party has decided to disband, the group announced Sunday, after its members formally voted to dissolve the organisation and enter liquidation.
The Democratic Party was founded in 1994, near the end of British colonial rule, when Hong Kong's leading liberal groups merged.
"Over these thirty years, we have taken part in and borne witness to the development and transformation of Hong Kong society, watching its systems and environment undergo one profound change after another," the party said in a statement.
"Yet as the times have shifted, we now, with deep regret, must bring this chapter to a close," it added.
At Sunday's meeting, 117 out of 121 members voted for the group's liquidation, with the remaining four votes being blank ballots, Lo Kin-hei, the party's chair, told a news conference.
He said that it was a "collective decision" made by party members, adding that it is the best way forward for them.
"We are deeply grateful to all the citizens who have walked with the Democratic Party for the past 30 years," Lo said.
Former party leader Emily Lau reacted to the dissolution with dismay when leaving the meeting Sunday, telling reporters: "I don't understand why the Democratic Party would end up like this."
"I think Beijing needs to provide an explanation," she added.
Lo said the disbandment was due to Hong Kong's "political environment", but declined to provide details of the constraints the party was facing.
- 'Regression' -
The Democratic Party's top concern was determining how the city would eventually elect its own leader and lawmakers through universal suffrage under China's "One Country, Two Systems" model.
It said in its manifesto that "as part of the Chinese citizenry, we have the rights and obligations to participate in and comment on the affairs of China".
Following Hong Kong's handover to China in 1997, the party became the most influential voice of opposition in the city's legislature and led peaceful street demonstrations.
The disbandment decision indicated the regression of Hong Kong from being a liberal society into an "authoritarian society", said Yeung Sum, a former party leader who has served jail time.
With the demise of Hong Kong's top pro-democracy parties, no candidate put forward a pro-democracy platform in the legislature election held this month -- which critics pointed to as another sign of the city's slide towards authoritarianism.
Yeung added that younger generations would feel frustrated if the political system went "backwards".
"I think this kind of fighting for democracy will carry on, even though we got ourselves disbanded today," the 78-year-old said. "We won't die away. We won't fade away."
Beijing tightened its grip on the Chinese finance hub after massive and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.
After the imposition of the national security law, the city's political opposition dwindled, with most democracy campaigners jailed or overseas.
The party holds no elected seats after its lawmakers resigned en masse from the Legislative Council in 2020.
Four party lawmakers were jailed last year for subversion under a Beijing-imposed national security law.
Former party leader Albert Ho is behind bars pending trial for national security charges that could see him jailed for life.
Hong Kong's second-largest opposition group, the Civic Party, closed its doors in 2023.
Another party, the League of Social Democrats, announced its disbandment in June this year, citing "immense political pressure".
"The Hong Kong government should be more open, they should accept more different kinds of opinions, even though there may be some opposition," Lo said on Sunday.
"But that is how the society works and that is how things progress," he added.
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