PEN Perth

Why Jimmy Lai’s plight and fight is a warning bell for us all, everywhere

Listen on ABC National Big Ideas

From rags ... to riches ... to a prison cell. He could have stayed wealthy and silent, but chose not to. What happens when power decides that a free press is a threat?

Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai launched newspapers that dared to challenge Beijing, advocate for democracy, and report the truth when the truth was dangerous.

Now Jimmy Lai faces a life sentence under China’s crackdown on press freedom.

But his story sends a warning to us all, everywhere.

This event, The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, and China’s Most Feared Critic was presented by the CUNY Graduate Center (City University of New York)

Speakers

Mark Clifford
President of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation
Author of The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire…and China’s Most Feared Critic

Evan Osnos (host)
Staff writer at The New Yorker

PEN International has launched Writers Under Siege: Defying Silence – PEN International Case List 2026.

From censorship and arbitrary detention to online harassment, disinformation and war, this year’s Case List reveals how space for expression, culture and dissent is shrinking as governments intensify efforts to silence critical expression and target writers for their work.

In 2025 alone, PEN International documented 140 cases worldwide: 32 writers imprisoned, 26 harassed, 23 facing judicial harassment and 12 subjected to enforced disappearance.

Go to pen-international.org/case-list-2026 to download the full Case List.

Co-hosted by Centre for Stories, PEN Perth and the Murdoch Indo-Pacific Research Centre, this Myanmar Update 2026 brought together a deeply engaged audience to hear from Dr Ma Thida on the ongoing situation in Myanmar.

The evening featured a compelling talk and conversation with Simon Adams, Professor of Human Rights at Murdoch University, exploring the realities on the ground, the global response, and the resilience of those continuing to resist.

A confronting and important conversation – and a reminder of the power of storytelling and free expression.

FreeExpression