Trump says Chinese President signalled Jimmy Lai’s release unlikely — Who is the jailed Hong Kong media mogul?

US President Donald Trump said he raised the case of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai during his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, suggesting Beijing considers the issue highly sensitive. According to AFP, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One after returning from China on Friday, Trump said Xi indicated that securing Lai’s release would be difficult. “I did bring him up, it’s a tougher one for him, it’s a tougher one,” Trump said, adding: “He told me, Jimmy Lai is a tough one for him to do.” Trump contrasted Lai’s case with that of detained Chinese pastor Jin Mingri, saying Xi had promised to “strongly consider” the pastor’s release.

Jimmy Lai, 78, is the founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, once one of Hong Kong’s most influential media outlets. A vocal critic of Beijing, Lai became one of the most prominent figures targeted under Hong Kong’s national security law imposed by China in 2020 after mass pro-democracy protests swept the city in 2019. Lai was arrested in August 2020 on allegations of colluding with foreign forces and conspiracy to defraud. Since then, he has faced multiple prosecutions linked to protests, media publications and national security charges.

In February, Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty in December. AFP says that the sentence remains the harshest penalty handed down under Hong Kong’s national security law imposed by Beijing following the 2019 pro-democracy protests, and has drawn widespread international condemnation.

The case has drawn criticism from the United States, Britain, the European Union and international rights groups, many of whom argue that the national security law has curtailed press freedom and political dissent in Hong Kong. Critics have described Lai’s two-decade prison sentence as “effectively a death sentence” because of his age and reported health concerns. Lai has spent much of his imprisonment in solitary confinement at Stanley Prison in Hong Kong. Rights groups and family members have raised concerns about his deteriorating health, although authorities maintain he receives adequate medical care.

Earlier this year, Lai won an appeal against a separate 2022 fraud conviction linked to a lease dispute involving Apple Daily’s office premises. The fraud case was unrelated to the national security charges. Although the conviction was quashed, it remains unclear whether the ruling will reduce Lai’s overall prison term because parts of the sentences were structured to run concurrently.

Earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Trump has offered China “any arrangement” to secure the release of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai. Lai’s son, Sebastien Lai, had said he remains hopeful that Trump, whom he described as an “incredible negotiator,” will be able to successfully press for his father’s freedom.

Trump said he also raised the detention of Chinese underground church leader Pastor Jin Mingri during his talks with Xi Jinping, suggesting Beijing appeared more open to reconsidering that case. “He’s going to strongly consider the pastor,” Trump said, referring to Jin, founder of Beijing’s unregistered Zion Church. According to Reuters, Jin was arrested in October amid a wider crackdown on underground Christian groups. Authorities detained nearly 30 pastors and staff after rules banned unauthorised online preaching and alleged “foreign collusion”.