At the plenary session in Strasbourg, France, on Thursday, 503 parliament members voted in favour of the non-binding resolution, with only nine voting against it. There were 100 abstentions.

Thursday’s joint motion, which was co-sponsored by 59 members, condemned Lai’s conviction “in the strongest terms” while calling for his immediate and unconditional release, alongside “all other individuals [in Hong Kong] detained for exercising their freedoms, including religious and democratic rights”.

Imprisoning Lai for life would bring “severe consequences to EU-China relations”, the resolution said.

The resolution reiterated a previous call for European Union member states to suspend extradition treaties with mainland China and Hong Kong, in addition to calling for the European Commission to initiate the suspension of the city’s status under the World Trade Organization (WTO).