CPJ Urges US Congress, Trump to Press for Jimmy Lai’s Release Ahead of Xi Visit
CPJ said Lai’s declining health and 20-year sentence make his case a test of U.S. pressure on Beijing for journalists jailed under Hong Kong security laws.
- The Committee to Protect Journalists called on U.S. Congress and President Donald Trump to "resolutely demand" the release of jailed Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai ahead of a September 24 meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
- Lai, founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has spent more than 2,000 days in prison since his 2020 arrest, following a 20-year sentence in February for "conspiracy to collude with foreign forces" and "sedition."
- At a Congressional-Executive Commission on China hearing on Capitol Hill on September 16, the 78-year-old publisher's son, Sebastien Lai, described the "painful realization" of imagining his father's condition after five years of separation.
- Separately, the CPJ joined 29 human rights groups in a joint letter urging the Chinese leader to free prisoners of conscience, including veteran journalist Dong Yuyu, who is serving a seven-year prison sentence for espionage.
- China consistently ranks as the world's worst jailer of journalists, with at least 50 currently behind bars according to CPJ data, as Xi is scheduled to meet Trump at the White House on September 24.
13 Articles
13 Articles
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Sebastien Lai sounds alarm on Hong Kong freedom as father remains jailed Sebastien Lai joins ‘Fox & Friends First’ to share an update on his father, Jimmy Lai, who remains imprisoned in Hong Kong for defending democracy. As he prepares to testify about his father’s imprisonment, Sebastien Lai sounds the alarm on the rapid decay [...]
Jimmy Lai’s Son Pleads for Ailing Father’s Release Ahead of Xi’s U.S. Visit
WASHINGTON—The son of imprisoned Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai has appealed for his father’s release on humanitarian grounds ahead of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s expected meeting with President Donald Trump. Lai founded the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. He was detained in 2020 under the Beijing-imposed national security law and sentenced to 20 years in prison in February. Sebastien Lai described the “painful realization” of i…
Bipartisan members of the U.S. Congress have called on President Donald Trump to reiterate his demand for Jimmy Lai's release to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the upcoming U.S.-China summit. Meanwhile, bipartisan members of both houses of Congress have introduced a new bill requiring the U.S. government to investigate deaths of Hong Kong political prisoners in custody due to medical negligence, abuse, or poor detention conditions, and to impos…
CPJ urges US Congress, Trump to press for Jimmy Lai’s release ahead of Xi visit
The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on the U.S. Congress and the Trump administration to “resolutely demand” for the release of jailed Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai, ahead of a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. U.S. authorities must use “all available diplomatic means and opportunities” to secure Lai’s freedom,...
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