There is this old British chestnut that says justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done.
Justice has been amply served in the 20-year sentence handed down to former media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, but it has not been seen to be done in many quarters, especially in the West.
There is the reality of justice and the appearance of it, and the two don’t always or even usually coincide.
There are two main reasons behind the widespread Western criticism of Lai’s case. One is that…