Jimmy Lai's son appeals to Washington for father's release before Xi visit
Sebastien Lai urged a US congressional hearing to secure his father's release on humanitarian grounds, a week before Xi Jinping is expected in Washington.
The son of imprisoned Hong Kong media proprietor Jimmy Lai made a public appeal in Washington on Wednesday for his father's release, telling a congressional hearing that the 78-year-old could die behind bars if he is not freed soon.
Sebastien Lai addressed the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, arguing for his father's release on humanitarian grounds. A Hong Kong court sentenced the former publisher to 20 years in prison in February after convicting him under a national security law imposed by Beijing.
His sister, Claire Lai, was absent from the hearing after being diagnosed with cancer. Sebastien Lai said she started chemotherapy in London last week, and asked that his father be allowed to return home to sit with her. He described the elder Lai as a man who has already endured enough.
"At 78, he is the oldest political prisoner in Hong Kong, with his 20-year sentence looming over him. If he's not freed soon, he will most likely die in prison," he said.
Jimmy Lai, a prominent critic of Beijing, founded a pro-democracy newspaper that was shut down during a crackdown that followed Hong Kong's large anti-government protests in 2019.
US President Donald Trump has previously raised the case with Chinese President Xi Jinping, including during a state visit to China in May. Trump later told reporters on his flight home that Xi had described the matter as a difficult one.
Xi and Trump are expected to meet in Washington on Sept. 24, a week after the hearing. The visit would be Xi's first to Washington in more than a decade; his most recent trip to the United States was in 2023 for the APEC summit in San Francisco.