Early signs are that Ottawa is broadly in favour of the pursuit of justice, as long as it doesn’t hamper its trade policy

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The Canadian government’s response to the 20-year sentence imposed on Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai is the first test of the government’s new “pragmatic engagement” with China.

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The early signs are that Ottawa is broadly in favour of the pursuit of justice, as long as it doesn’t hamper its trade policy.

Lai, the 78-year-old Hong Kong media tycoon who owned the now defunct Apple Daily, was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison under China’s national security law. He was adjudged to have colluded with foreign forces and endangered China’s national security.

The reality is he was exercising the freedom of the press in a territory where such rights no longer apply.

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Lai’s son, Sebastien, said the decision signifies the total destruction of Hong Kong’s legal system and the end of justice in the special administrative region.

But Canada’s response has been all but imperceptible.

Anita Anand, the foreign affairs minister, issued a pro forma statement in which she said that Canada was disappointed with the sentence and called for Lai’s release on humanitarian grounds.

In terms of indifference, it was surpassed only by U.S. Secretary of........

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