United States President, Donald Trump, has vowed to free self-made billionaire Jimmy Lai from a Hong Kong prison.
Days before his bid for a second term, Trump made a bold pledge: if re-elected, he would secure the release of the combative billionaire.
“100% I’ll get him out. He’ll be easy to get out,” Trump said during an October podcast interview.
Nearly ten months later, Lai, a pro-democracy advocate and persistent critic of Beijing, remains behind bars.
The 77-year-old media mogul has spent over 1,600 days in a maximum-security prison, much of it in solitary confinement, facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life there.
Lai, founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily, a tabloid known for its fierce criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, has become a symbol of Beijing’s sweeping national security crackdown on Hong Kong.
He faces two counts of colluding with foreign forces, punishable by life imprisonment under the 2020 national security law and a separate sedition charge. He has pleaded not guilty.
On Thursday, a Hong Kong court was scheduled to hear closing arguments, a step that could lead to a verdict determining Lai’s fate and test Trump’s pledge amid trade talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The first day of arguments was postponed due to heavy rain.
Asked if he would speak with Xi to free Lai, Trump said, “100% yes.” He also vowed to raise Lai’s case in trade negotiations. “I think talking about Jimmy Lai is a very good idea,” he said. “We’ll put it down, and we’ll put it down as part of the negotiation.”
Two close associates confirmed that US officials raised the case with Chinese counterparts. “We understand it was informally brought up at trade talks, but we don’t know the context of it,” said Lai’s top aide Mark Simon. Mark Clifford, of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was tasked by Trump to discuss Lai’s release.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said: “As President Trump said, Jimmy Lai should be released, and he wants to see that happen.”
China and Hong Kong resisted external pressure. Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy, said, “We strongly oppose external forces using judicial cases as a pretext to interfere in China’s internal affairs or to smear and undermine Hong Kong’s rule of law.”
Hong Kong’s Security Bureau added, “Any attempt by any country, organization, or individual to interfere with the judicial proceedings … is a reprehensible act undermining the rule of law of Hong Kong and should be condemned.”
Lai’s family remains hopeful. “We’re incredibly grateful that the president knows about my father’s case and has said that he will free him,” said son Sebastien Lai. “The president has a tremendous track record in freeing prisoners around the world. So hearing this gives our family a lot of hope.”
Lai, who arrived in Hong Kong at age 12 on a fishing boat, rose to become a clothing tycoon and later founded Apple Daily in 1995.
A devout Catholic and Trump supporter, he once told CNN, “Mr. President, you’re the only one who can save us. If you save us, you can stop China’s aggressions. You can also save the world.”
Advocates stress urgency due to Lai’s age and health. “He’s 77 this year, turning 78 at the end of the year, any type of incarceration is incredibly worrying for his health, never mind the solitary confinement and the diabetes,” Sebastien said. “And during the summer, Hong Kong goes up to 30, almost 40 degrees, and he’s in a little concrete cell, so he bakes in there. We’re incredibly worried about him.”
Clifford added, “If he dies in prison, he’s going to be trouble forever. He’ll be a martyr. He’ll be a symbol of resistance. He’ll be a symbol of the cruelty of the Chinese Communist regime. And why would [Beijing] want that?”
Sebastien concluded, “I’m very proud that someone like my father has decided to do what he did, campaigning for democracy for the last 30 years, staying in Hong Kong when it mattered, when the national security law was coming down…and almost acting like a lightning rod. On a personal level, it’s devastating. But on a grander, historical level, it’s important to keep watch.”