The long-awaited trial of Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai on national security charges is supposed to begin Dec. 1 in Hong Kong. The latest news is that the government objects to Mr. Lai’s choice of a British lawyer to represent him, King’s Counsel Timothy Owen. The objection underscores how the government tries to stack the deck against anyone it dislikes.
One of Hong Kong’s attractions as a financial center has been that foreign lawyers and judges from common-law jurisdictions are welcome. The same Department of Justice now fighting Mr. Lai’s bid to hire a British barrister to defend him itself hired another one, David Perry, to prosecute Mr. Lai along with eight other pro-democracy advocates.
