Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in jail by the city’s Chinese Communist Party rulers. Lai is Hong Kong’s most prominent political prisoner. The verdict is tantamount to a death sentence for the 78-year-old. It is also a warning for another neighbor that China has set its sights on: Taiwan.

Authorities in Hong Kong called the sentence “deserved,” claiming that Lai had committed “numerous heinous crimes, and his evil deeds were beyond measure.” In fact, Lai had been a critic of the CCP, highlighting how its rulers destroyed democracy in the city. Lai’s words and his uncompromising stance are what prompted the ruling, not some trumped-up charges brought forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s henchmen.