US President Donald Trump says he has personally asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to consider releasing imprisoned Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, citing serious concerns about the 78-year-old’s health following his conviction under the city’s national security law.
“I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release,” Trump told reporters on Monday, without specifying when the conversation took place. “He’s an older man, and he’s not well. So I did put that request out. We’ll see what happens.”
The appeal came just hours after Hong Kong’s High Court found Lai guilty on three charges in a landmark national security trial that rights groups say underscores the dismantling of press freedom in the Chinese financial hub. Prosecutors accused Lai of conspiring to encourage foreign governments to take action against Hong Kong or China, and of publishing material that “excited disaffection” against Chinese authorities. Lai pleaded not guilty but now faces a possible life sentence.
Trump is believed to have raised Lai’s case previously during a meeting with Xi in October in South Korea. Following Trump’s remarks this week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the verdict highlighted Beijing’s determination to crush dissent.
“The conviction shows China’s resolve to silence those who seek to protect freedom of speech and other fundamental rights,” Rubio said. He added that Lai’s health had “severely deteriorated” during more than 1,800 days in detention and urged authorities to release him “on humanitarian grounds”.
The United Kingdom also condemned the ruling as a “politically motivated prosecution” and called for Lai’s immediate release. Lai, a British citizen, has been jailed since late 2020. His son, Sebastien Lai, said London must go further.
“It’s time to put action behind words and make my father’s release a precondition to closer relationships with China,” he said at a news conference in London.
Lai’s daughter, Claire, told the Associated Press in Washington that her father would abandon political activism if freed.
“He just wants to reunite with his family. He wants to dedicate his life to serving our Lord, and he wants to dedicate the rest of his days to his family,” she said, adding, “My father is fundamentally not a man who operates on illegal ground.”
Lai founded the now-defunct pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, whose forced closure in 2021 marked a turning point for Hong Kong’s media environment. Since then, news outlets have sharply curtailed critical coverage of China amid fears of prosecution. Hong Kong’s global press freedom ranking has plunged to 140th out of 180 countries, according to advocacy group RFA.
“Although it’s an expected verdict, when the news came out, the feeling of ‘finally it’s here’ hit us,” said Edward Li, a former Apple Daily editor now living in Taiwan. “Not only does Hong Kong no longer have Apple Daily; Hong Kong no longer has a strong voice to criticise and monitor the government.”
A devout Catholic, Lai has attracted support in the US from democracy advocates, press freedom groups and Christian activists, a constituency that also overlaps with Trump’s political base.
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