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Hong Kong’s top court sends tycoon Jimmy Lai back to jail

InternationalDec 31. 2020Jimmy Lai leaves the Court of Final Appeal following a bail hearing in Hong Kong, on Dec. 31. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Chan Long Hei. Photo by: Chan Long Hei — Bloomberg Location: Hong KongHong Kong

By Syndication The Washington Post, Bloomberg · Kari Lindberg, Natalie Lung

Hong Kong’s highest court sent tycoon Jimmy Lai back to jail as he fights national security charges, in a decision that also signaled plans to interpret provisions the Beijing-drafted law used to charge him.

The Court of Final Appeal ruled Thursday that Lai must be returned to custody while judges consider the government’s appeal against his bail due to the seriousness of the charges. The court led by outgoing Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma, however, said the court planned to weigh in on a controversial provision of the national security law imposed by Beijing on the former British colony.

A Feb. 1 hearing was scheduled to discuss the case, which could affirm the judiciary’s right to interpret the legislation drafted by the National People’s Congress and approved by President Xi Jinping. A lower court had released the Next Digital Ltd. founder from jail last week on HK$10 million ($1.3 million) bail and placed him under house arrest pending a trial next year.

The People’s Daily newspaper — the official mouthpiece of Xi’s Communist Party — blasted the bail decision as “unbelievable” in a commentary Saturday, warning that the case could be transferred to mainland courts under the security law. While the Court of Final Appeal put off an immediate showdown with Beijing, the decision to return Lai to jail could fuel concern about pre-trial imprisonment under the legislation, which criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers.

“It will be really interesting to see how the CFA looks at the provision of the NSL, and in particular the protections of human rights that was set out in the NSL and in other Hong Kong laws,” said Antony Dapiran, a Hong Kong-based lawyer and author of “City on Fire: The Fight for Hong Kong.” “How will they reconcile the bail provision of the NSL with other essential human rights? How will they construe them together? And what will that say about how they interpret the NSL as a whole?”

Dapiran also speculated that that the National People’s Congress could preempt the court with its own interpretation of the security law, overruling the local judicial process.

The security legislation has led the U.S., U.K. and others to accuse Beijing of breaking its agreements to maintain Hong Kong’s liberal institutions including its “independent judicial power” until 2047. The U.S. has placed financial sanctions on several top Chinese officials over their roles in enacting the law without public debate, including Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

At least 29 people have been arrested under the security law since its enactment on June 30 and Lai was among the first to be formally charged. He has been accused of calling on a foreign entity to impose sanctions or engage in hostile activities against Hong Kong or China between July 1 and Dec. 1 this year and faces a separate charge of fraud.

Lai denies the charges and said he’s being targeted for fighting for freedom of speech in the city. He also faces several cases related to his participation in last year’s protest movement. On Tuesday, Lai resigned as chairman of Next Digital, the media group he founded more than three decades ago.

The security law contains several provisions that lawyers say undercut Hong Kong’s English Common Law traditions, giving the government power to select judges and transfer cases to the mainland for trial. The article at issue in Lai’s case says that defendants shouldn’t receive bail “unless the judge has sufficient grounds for believing that the criminal suspect or defendant will not continue to commit acts endangering national security.”

In his Dec. 23 decision to release Lai, Justice Alex Lee had argued it was possible to grant bail for those charged under the new law. Lai was required to surrender any travel documents, remain at home and refrain from meeting with foreign politicians or making any public statements.

Lee said the bail decision to grant Lai bail would’ve been “relatively straightforward,” if not for the national security charge against him.

During proceedings Thursday, prosecutor Anthony Chau argued that the threshold for bail should be higher for defendants in national security cases. Those who require special conditions to prevent them committing future offenses shouldn’t be eligible for release, said Chau, the senior assistant director of public prosecutions.

Lai’s lawyer, Peter Duncan, disputed the claim that Lai should face a higher standard for bail than a defendant in a normal criminal case. He called the government’s argument that bail couldn’t be granted if special conditions were required “a radical departure from the traditional approach.”

The decision appears set to be among the last rulings by Ma, who is set to retire as chief justice on Jan. 11. Andrew Cheung, another member of the Court of Final Appeal that heard Lai’s case Thursday, has been appointed to replace him.

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Fewer people than usual will pop bottles of bubbly at midnight. Pour one out for France’s Champagne region.

InternationalDec 31. 2020John Charles Ricciuti at one of his vineyards in Avenay-Val-d’Or, eastern France, on Dec 29, 2020. MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Rick Noack Photo by: Rick Noack — The Washington Post

By The Washington Post · Rick Noack 

AVENAY-VAL-D’OR, France – Champagne means celebration. But for France’s Champagne region, 2020 brought little to celebrate.

In ordinary times, the region in France’s east, a global center of sparkling wine production and home to the only winemakers allowed to claim the Champagne name in some jurisdictions, would usher in the new year with lavish banquets in centuries-old castles or palaces, its sparkling treasure flowing freely. But after a year of dismal sales and drastic restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic, that seems like a distant memory.

The town of Épernay’s stately Champagne Avenue – an Embassy Row of sorts for the world of champagne – was almost entirely empty this week. Champagne-themed key chains, basketball hats and lighters sat unsold in dark shop fronts.

Americans usually consume millions of glasses of champagne on New Year’s Eve. This year, however, the more than 15,000 producers here are set for disappointment. They have already seen sales plummet by more than 20 percent, the worst decline since World War II.

“It’s a crisis unlike anything the Champagne region has ever seen,” said Maxime Toubart, head of the Champagne winegrowers’ association.

Sales of some alcoholic beverages have gone up during the pandemic. But champagne, a favorite at events, nightclubs and fancy dinners, did not necessarily hold the same appeal as other wines for those in shutdown.

The first months of shutdowns were the most challenging for champagne sellers. After the virus began to paralyze Europe in spring, John Charles Ricciuti, 56, who runs a family champagne business, sold 18 bottles in the first two weeks of lockdown in March – only a tiny fraction of the usual 2,500 bottles per month, he said in a conversation this week at his home in the village of Avenay-Val-d’Or.

More than many other drinks, sales of champagne, distinct from other drinks in its identity as a marker of occasions, have long been linked to prevailing socioeconomic currents. When the global economy rallied or the world recovered from wars, sales tended to skyrocket. “Champagne is often a wine of conviviality; it’s a wine of celebrations,” said historian Kolleen Marie Guy.

During crises, champagne sales tend to suffer – with minor exceptions. As a flu pandemic killed millions between 1918 and 1920, some people initially hoped that dry champagne could fend off the virus. A century later, the coronavirus pandemic sparked similar false claims, this time circulating on social media, but no attendant bump in purchases.

By the summer, the abrupt plummet in sales had triggered what French newspapers labeled the “Champagne wars” – a dispute between the owners of local vineyards and big champagne businesses that turn the grapes into wine.

To avoid overproduction and preserve the value of the tens of millions of bottles stored in their underground cellars, major champagne makers pressed for production curbs, forcing vineyard owners to destroy their own grapes.

“It was painful,” Ricciuti said. “When nature gives you something, you must take it.”

The coronavirus champagne wars were not the first of their kind. “There’s a long history of battle between the growers and the producers,” said Guy, citing an escalation in 1911, when wine growers “burned down some of the wine houses.”

This year, government aid helped the most affected companies through the crisis, preventing bankruptcies, but the coming months could be crucial for the industry’s future. The French watch champagne very closely and have been doing so since the early 20th century, Guy said. “It’s a bellwether.”

Some of the cultural significance of champagne dates back to World War II, when the Nazis plundered large amounts of it after occupying the area. In France’s collective memory, Guy said, it amounted to the theft of a “national treasure.”

For the Ricciuti family, World War II proved a window of entry into the tightknit champagne world. Ricciuti’s father, Albert, arrived in France as a U.S. serviceman in 1944. He helped to liberate Avenay-Val-d’Or, where he met his future wife, Paulette Révolte, and where the family now lives. Paulette and her family had risked their lives to hide two U.S. parachutists from the Nazis in the final weeks of occupation.

Albert went on to help liberate the Nazi concentration camps farther to the east, before returning to the United States. When he decided to marry Paulette and return to France, the Baltimore-born veteran became the first American winegrower in the region.

Visitors to the Ricciutis’ mansion in Avenay-Val-d’Or are still greeted by U.S. flags in the hallway, alongside a letter of “gratitude and appreciation” from the U.S. government for hiding the two parachutists.

While some champagne producers could see the pandemic sales dip as a moment to pivot toward Asian markets, where much of the growth in the coming decades is expected, the Ricciuti family wants to remain focused on expanding its sales in the United States – the second-biggest export market for champagne behind Britain in terms of volume.

The company already sells champagne bottles imprinted with U.S. flags and is working on other marketing campaigns, as it prepares for the post-pandemic business.

“It’s going to be a tougher job,” Ricciuti said.

Some experts say an eventual wind-down of the pandemic could prove an opportunity.

“People want to catch up on pleasure,” said Olivier Gergaud, a food and wine researcher at France’s Kedge Business School.

What’s good for champagne isn’t always good for society. Rising interest in luxury products may also signal growing inequality, as poorer Americans struggle to afford basics while others look for new ways to spend on quality products.

Gergaud said he recently compared Google search interest in champagne across countries and found a spike in Australia. After the country emerged from months of lockdowns and restrictions in recent weeks, interest not only rebounded but exceeded pre-New Year’s Eve levels in 2019.

A post-crisis champagne revival would not be unprecedented. One century ago, WWI and the 1918 flu pandemic (despite the false medicinal champagne rumor) appeared to threaten champagne’s survival.

“But it was followed by this burst of partying,” Guy said.