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 U.S. President Donald Trump.

Sebastien Lai described the “painful realization” of imagining his elderly father’s physical and mental state if they were ever reunited, five years after their last meeting.

“I hear about his health declining every single day,” Sebastien Lai said on Sept. 16 at a congressional hearing hosted by the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China. “It’s really sad. It’s really worrying.”

Sebastien Lai’s sister, Claire Lai, was diagnosed with cancer recently and is undergoing chemotherapy in London.

“My father learned of his own daughter’s diagnosis from a maximum-security prison. He cannot hold her hand. She wants nothing more than to have him with her for this fight,” Sebastien Lai said.

“We hope the Chinese authorities will consider what compassionate release would mean for her and for a 78-year-old man who has already suffered enough.

“My father poses no threat. His imprisonment makes him a symbol of injustice. His death in prison would be a disgrace.”

He said that his father’s release was just a “phone call away” for Xi.

At the time, the newspaper was known for its critical coverage of the Chinese Communist Party and the Hong Kong government, particularly during the years of pro-democracy street protests in the former British colony.

“This is all about whether or not journalists can report freely when the government can shut down a newspaper and prosecute its publisher,” Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), the commission’s co-chair, said at the hearing.

“It’s about whether a society can retain meaningful freedom of speech when criticizing those in power becomes a national security offense.”

The national security law criminalizes speeches or actions deemed secessionist, subversive, or terrorist, as well as those viewed as colluding with foreign forces against the Chinese communist regime. Punishments can be as severe as life imprisonment.

Speaking in an interview after the hearing, Sebastien Lai noted a recent report by the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation that states that guards at the place where his father has been imprisoned had “formally rehearsed procedures in the event that Lai dies in custody.”

“It’s really scary to hear,” he said, saying that the Hong Kong authorities’ prosecution of his father is a “real disgrace.”

“They went through all this kangaroo court show trial and found nothing. His record is unblemished, yet they still keep going.”

Smith and three other lawmakers on the commission, on Sept. 16, introduced a bill that would require the State Department to impose sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for or complicit in the death of Hong Kong political prisoners.

Trump is scheduled to meet with Xi on Sept. 24.

Smith urged Trump to make Lai’s case a priority during the meeting.

“My hope is Xi Jinping will say this is in his interest, too, and in the interest of his Party, to be more humane and to allow a great man his freedom,” the lawmaker said.