Washington Post Op-Ed: What Guides My Father As China Slowly Kills Him, by Claire Lai:

Since 2020, my father, Jimmy Lai, has been held in solitary confinement for the crime of defending democracy. Though his jailers in the Chinese Communist Party have kept us apart physically, I have received regular letters from him. Reading his words, I have come to see why prisoners of conscience have written some of the most renowned moral and spiritual reflections in history. Isolated and stripped of the world’s comforts, they are able to achieve a unique clarity. …

In 1995, [my father] started Apple Daily, which quickly grew to become the city’s largest pro-democracy newspaper. It was a time of uncertainty. The British would hand Hong Kong back to mainland China only two years later. … In 1997, the year of the handover, my father was confirmed in the Catholic Church. He had always felt God’s guiding hand in his life, and thanks in part to the faithful witness of my Catholic mother, he finally found his spiritual home. …

My father has now spent more than five years in solitary confinement. Last month, he was sentenced to an additional 20 years. For most, this would be a time of despair. But in his tiny prison cell, without any access to fresh air or natural light, my father’s faith continues to bear fruit. He loves his neighbor, forgives those who have wronged him and hopes to bring others to the truth. He has written to me about God’s steadfastness, and he has sent me the pictures he drew with colored pencils — the only artistic implements the guards allow him. Here are a few selections from his letters:

I am most grateful to God for putting me through this suffering in order that I might draw closer to Him. What a joy and treasure this is. God’s action confounds us but always turns out to be marvelous.

Your eyes, O Lord, are in every place. You are ever with me. You are present and conscious of all I think. Every deed or act, however slight; every word, however quick and casual; every thought of my heart, however secret, however momentary, however forgotten. You see it all, O Lord. …

Reading my father’s words reminds me of how clearly he sees God’s mercy from the confines of prison. I pray daily that we will soon be reunited, and that I may learn from his absolute trust in divine providence as he faces trials and persecution. I hope, too, that those who enjoy freedom will use it as well as he is using his captivity.

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