Trump urges China’s Xi to free jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai

Trump appeals to Chinese person Xi Jinping aft Jimmy Lai convicted nether Hong Kong’s nationalist information instrumentality successful lawsuit said to symbolises illness of media freedoms successful the city.

United States President Donald Trump has personally appealed to Chinese President Xi Jinping to merchandise imprisoned Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, saying helium was profoundly acrophobic astir the 78-year-old’s wellness pursuing his conviction.

On Monday, Hong Kong’s High Court recovered Lai guilty connected 3 charges successful his nationalist information trial, a ruling condemned by rights groups arsenic a decisive stroke to property state successful the Chinese fiscal hub.

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Prosecutors accused Lai of orchestrating conspiracies to promote overseas governments to instrumentality enactment against Hong Kong oregon China, and of publishing worldly that “excited disaffection” against Chinese authorities. Lai pleaded not blameworthy and present faces a imaginable beingness condemnation pursuing his blameworthy verdict.

“I spoke to President Xi astir it, and I asked to see his release,” Trump told reporters connected Monday, without saying erstwhile helium made the petition to Xi.

“He’s an older man, and he’s not well. So I did enactment that petition out. We’ll spot what happens,” Trump said.

Trump met Xi successful October successful South Korea, wherever helium is believed to person raised Lai’s lawsuit with the Chinese leader. Shortly aft Trump’s comments connected Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the verdict underscored Beijing’s determination to suppress dissent.

Rubio said the condemnation showed China’s resoluteness to “silence those who question to support state of code and different cardinal rights”.

Lai founded the now-defunct pro-democracy tabloid paper Apple Daily and became 1 of the astir salient pro-democracy figures targeted nether Hong Kong’s nationalist information law.

“Reports bespeak that Mr. Lai’s wellness has severely deteriorated during much than 1,800 days successful prison,” Rubio said successful the statement. “We impulse the authorities to bring this ordeal to an extremity arsenic soon arsenic imaginable and to merchandise Mr. Lai connected humanitarian grounds,” helium said.

Jimmy Lai has spent implicit 1,800 days successful prison. I echo President Trump’s telephone for Beijing to reason this ordeal and merchandise Mr. Lai.

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) December 15, 2025

The United Kingdom besides criticised the condemnation of Lai arsenic a “politically motivated prosecution” and called for his contiguous release.

Lai, who has been detained since precocious 2020, is simply a British citizen. His lad Sebastien said that the UK needed to summation unit connected Beijing.

“It’s clip to enactment enactment down words and marque my father’s merchandise a precondition to person relationships with China,” Lai’s lad said astatine a quality league successful London.

Lai’s daughter, Claire, said her begetter would wantonness governmental activism if freed from jail.

“He conscionable wants to reunite with his family. He wants to dedicate his beingness to serving our Lord, and helium wants to dedicate the remainder of his days to his family,” she told the Associated Press successful Washington.

“My begetter is fundamentally not a antheral who operates connected amerciable ground,” she said.

A devout Catholic, Lai has drawn enactment successful the US from a escaped conjugation of ideology advocates, property state groups and Christian activists, a constituency that forms a cardinal portion of Trump’s governmental base.

The forced closure of Lai’s Apple Daily successful 2021, erstwhile known for its fiercely captious reporting, marked a turning constituent for Hong Kong’s media landscape. News organisations person since scaled backmost captious sum of China amid fears of prosecution successful Hong Kong, portion the city’s planetary property state ranking has fallen sharply, dropping to 140th retired of 180 countries, according to advocacy radical RFA.

“Although it’s an expected verdict, erstwhile the quality came out, the feeling of ‘finally it’s here’ deed us,” said Edward Li, a erstwhile exertion astatine Apple Daily presently residing successful Taiwan.

“Not lone does Hong Kong nary longer person Apple Daily; Hong Kong nary longer has a beardown dependable to criticise and show the government…, which is wherefore we consciousness the request to capable that role,” Li said.