Advocates for jailed publisher Lai turn to Trump administration

Voice of America

13-03-2025

The son of imprisoned pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai this week brought the campaign to secure his father's release to the Trump administration in Washington.
Nearly two months into President Donald Trump's second term, Lai's son Sebastien and their international legal team were in Washington this week to meet with Trump administration officials and lawmakers in hopes that the United States can help push for Lai's release.
Lai, a businessman and founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong, stands accused of collusion with foreign forces and sedition under a Beijing-imposed national security law. He rejects the charges, but if convicted in an ongoing trial, he could face life in prison.
"We were incredibly grateful that President Trump said that he will help release my father. It's given us as a family a lot of hope," the younger Lai said at a Wednesday event at the Cato Institute think tank in Washington.
In October 2024, Trump said he would "100%" be able to secure Lai's release if he were reelected.
"I'll get him out. He'll be easy to get out. But we don't have people that even talk about it," Trump said in an interview with conservative podcast host Hugh Hewitt.
The White House did not reply to VOA's email requesting comment on whether the Trump administration had any specific plans to help secure Lai's release.
But a State Department spokesperson reaffirmed that the United States calls for Lai's immediate release.
"Lai's lengthy trial and unjust detention are an example of how China uses vague national security laws to suppress fundamental freedoms and political discourse," the spokesperson added in a statement emailed to VOA on Wednesday.
Lai, a 77-year-old British national, has been held in solitary confinement in Hong Kong since late 2020. His trial, which was originally estimated to last about 80 days, has been ongoing since December 2023 and is widely viewed as politically motivated.
Hong Kong authorities have rejected accusations that Lai's trial is unfair and maintain that press freedom and the rule of law are intact.
Speaking at the Cato Institute event, Mark Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong, suggested that the U.S. government should use sanctions against Hong Kong officials as a way to push for Lai's release.
Clifford, who previously served on the board of Apple Daily's parent company, also suggested the United States could shutter the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in Washington, New York and San Francisco.
"There's a pretty good tool kit that the administration has," Clifford said.
Even though the government-appointed judges are likely to find Lai guilty, Mark Simon, who worked with Lai for decades in Hong Kong, argued that releasing Lai may be in Beijing's interest.
"Your influence as a dissident is at the height when you're in prison. The world is campaigning for you. If you're China and you release him, his influence goes down," Simon said at the Cato Institute. "If he dies in prison, then you don't control anything."
Jimmy Lai's international legal team has expressed concern about the conditions in which the publisher is being held, including prolonged solitary confinement and no access to specialized medical care for diabetes. Hong Kong authorities have rejected those claims.
"Everybody realizes that the clock is ticking, and time is running out for my father," Sebastien Lai said.
But even though his father's physical health has become fragile, Sebastien Lai said his mind has stayed strong.
"He's still strong mentally, and he's still fighting," the younger Lai said. "That's something that should inspire all of us."
Before concluding his cross-examination in Lai's national security trial last week, Hong Kong prosecutor Anthony Chau read out the charges, alleged conspiracies and co-conspirators, and asked the elder Lai if he agreed with them.
"Of course I disagree. Totally rubbish," Lai said.
After 52 days in the witness box, Lai completed his testimony in the trial last week. Lawyers from both sides aren't expected to return to court to deliver their closing statements until August, marking the trial's latest months-long delay.
Lai's plight has received bipartisan support in Washington, according to Caoilfhionn Gallagher, the attorney leading Lai's international legal team.
She told VOA she hopes the United States and the United Kingdom can coordinate their efforts and work together to secure Lai's release.
"We're extremely worried for his health and well-being, and indeed, his life," Gallagher said. "It's in no one's interest for this brilliant man to die in prison."