Over the course of pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai’s (黎智英) marathon trial in Hong Kong, advocacy from foreign leaders on his behalf was intermittent, and cautious. Presidents promised to do what they could; foreign secretaries expressed concerns about the case.
But with Lai’s sentencing Monday to 20 years in prison, that has all changed.
“The sentencing of Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong is an unjust and tragic conclusion to this case. We urge the authorities to grant Mr. Lai humanitarian parole,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X Tuesday.
Rubio’s statement came amid an avalanche of online support for Lai, whose prosecution under Hong Kong’s 2020 national security law has become a symbol of Beijing’s crackdown on freedom of expression in the once-politically vibrant city.
Senator Dan Sullivan of Arkansas and Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey, the two Republican chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, issued a joint statement calling on Hong Kong authorities to release Lai “immediately and unconditionally.”
“After years of arbitrary detention and worsening health due to harsh prison conditions, he should not spend one more night behind bars,” they said.
Hong Kong’s government, which is now composed almost entirely of officials vetted by Beijing, has denied accusations of mistreating Lai, 78, amid reports about his declining health.
“Jimmy Lai is the mastermind and perpetrator behind the riots that shook Hong Kong,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday, referring to the protest movement that broke out in response to the proposed national security law in 2019.
Apple Daily, the pro-democracy newspaper that Lai founded in 1995 after making his fortune in the clothing industry, ran wall-to-wall coverage of the protests until it was shut down by authorities in June 2021.
The government in the U.K., where Lai holds citizenship, had for months been relatively muted in its advocacy for Lai as it sought a reset in trade relations with China.
“I’ve always raised issues that need to be raised,” U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said before his trip to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last month, without specifically referring to Lai.
On Monday, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper took a harder line. “The Prime Minister raised Mr. Lai’s case directly with President Xi during his visit,” he said in a statement. “That has opened up discussion of our most acute concerns directly with the Chinese government, at the highest levels. Following today’s sentencing we will rapidly engage further on Mr. Lai’s case.”
The escalating pressure on Beijing from Western leaders was mirrored on the internet this week, where posts about Lai’s case were shared widely on social media. According to Google Trends, global search queries for ‘Jimmy Lai’ have been nearly twice as high this week than they were when he was convicted in December.
The leadership in Taiwan echoed calls for Lai’s release, saying that it highlighted the demise of press freedom and legal independence promised to Hong Kong when the city was handed over from the British in 1997.
“Jimmy Lai’s sentencing & persecution are a strong reminder that there is no freedom in the so-called ‘One Country’ formula, & that ‘Two Systems’ under that framework is an illusion,” Taiwanese Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) wrote on X Tuesday.
Beijing has long floated the “one country, two systems” framework as a way to resolve its sovereignty claims over Taiwan, a suggestion that most Taiwanese people find unacceptable.
Taiwan’s fate is likely to be a topic of conversation between Trump and Xi, who are expected to meet in person in Beijing the first week of April. Xi reportedly pressed Trump on Taiwan during a two-hour phone conversation last week.
“President Xi emphasized that the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations. Taiwan is China’s territory,” the Chinese foreign ministry’s readout from the call said.
“This is something I’ve heard the president advocate for both publicly and privately,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday when asked about Lai’s sentencing. “It is important to him, and he looks forward to visiting China in April.”
Human Rights advocacy for figures like Lai, who fled from China to Hong Kong as a child, has traditionally been the more natural purview of anti-Communist foreign policy-minded Republicans in Congress. Lai’s sentencing appears to be changing that, too.
“I call on President Trump to condemn Jimmy Lai’s politically motivated sentencing and guarantee his humanitarian release,” Democratic congressman from California Ro Khanna said in a statement Monday. “Anything short of that is a failure of American values and diplomacy.”
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