Trump urges China’s Xi to free jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai
Trump appeals to Chinese leader Xi Jinping after Jimmy Lai convicted under Hong Kong’s national security law in case said to symbolises collapse of media freedoms in the city.
Sebastien Lai, son of jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai, poses for a portrait next to a campaign poster featuring imagery of his father, during an interview with Reuters following his father being found guilty under Hong Kong’s national security law of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and to publish seditious material, in London, Britain, December 15, 2025. REUTERS/Toby Melville
United States President Donald Trump has personally appealed to Chinese President Xi Jinping to release imprisoned Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, saying he was deeply concerned about the 78-year-old’s health following his conviction.
On Monday, Hong Kong’s High Court found Lai guilty on three charges in his national security trial, a ruling condemned by rights groups as a decisive blow to press freedom in the Chinese financial hub.
Prosecutors accused Lai of orchestrating conspiracies 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 and now faces a possible life sentence following his guilty verdict.
“I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release,” Trump told reporters on Monday, without saying when he made the request to Xi.
“He’s an older man, and he’s not well. So I did put that request out. We’ll see what happens,” Trump said.
Trump met Xi in October in South Korea, where he is believed to have raised Lai’s case with the Chinese leader. Shortly after Trump’s comments on Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the verdict underscored Beijing’s determination to suppress dissent.
Rubio said the conviction showed China’s resolve to “silence those who seek to protect freedom of speech and other fundamental rights”.
Lai founded the now-defunct pro-democracy tabloid newspaper Apple Daily and became one of the most prominent pro-democracy figures targeted under Hong Kong’s national security law.
“Reports indicate that Mr. Lai’s health has severely deteriorated during more than 1,800 days in prison,” Rubio said in the statement. “We urge the authorities to bring this ordeal to an end as soon as possible and to release Mr. Lai on humanitarian grounds,” he said.
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The United Kingdom also criticised the conviction of Lai as a “politically motivated prosecution” and called for his immediate release.
Lai, who has been detained since late 2020, is a British citizen. His son Sebastien said that the UK needed to increase pressure on Beijing.
“It’s time to put action behind words and make my father’s release a precondition to closer relationships with China,” Lai’s son said at a news conference in London.
Lai’s daughter, Claire, said her father would abandon political activism if freed from jail.
“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 told the Associated Press in Washington.
“My father is fundamentally not a man who operates on illegal ground,” she said.
A devout Catholic, Lai has drawn support in the US from a loose coalition of democracy advocates, press freedom groups and Christian activists, a constituency that forms a key part of Trump’s political base.
