Jimmy Lai spent decades criticizing China’s rulers. He faces up to life in prison after a court found him guilty of national security crimes.

© Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong publisher and democracy campaigner, was convicted of national security charges in a city where even minor dissent is now whispered.

© Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong publisher and democracy campaigner, was convicted of national security charges in a city where even minor dissent is now whispered.

The Hong Kong publisher’s fate will reveal whether democracies still have the resolve to defend their own values.

© Anthony Wallace/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The Hong Kong publisher’s fate will reveal whether democracies still have the resolve to defend their own values.

The Hong Kong publisher’s fate will reveal whether democracies still have the resolve to defend their own values.

He attributed his rags-to-riches ascent to the freedoms of Hong Kong, and has paid a hefty price for defending them.

He attributed his rags-to-riches ascent to the freedoms of Hong Kong, and has paid a hefty price for defending them.

© Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

Jimmy Lai, the publisher of a popular tabloid, has spent years fighting the landmark national security case brought over his support of the city’s now vanquished pro-democracy movement.

Jimmy Lai, the publisher of a popular tabloid, has spent years fighting the landmark national security case brought over his support of the city’s now vanquished pro-democracy movement.

The release of the prisoners, including a Nobel laureate and two opposition leaders, was part of a monthslong rapprochement between Washington and Minsk.

© Ints Kalnins/Reuters

A correspondent for Reuters, he became a global symbol of China’s isolation and of the anti-foreigner hysteria spawned by its Cultural Revolution.