President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would do everything in his power to save Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who has been imprisoned since December 2020 under the authoritarian “national security law” China imposed to thwart the pro-democracy movement.
“I’m going to do everything I can to save him,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News Radio. “You know, he’s a respected guy, he is a good guy.”
“I mean, you could also understand President Xi would not be exactly thrilled by doing it,” Trump mused, in response to Fox host Brian Kilmeade observing that Xi could set Lai free “just by [lifting] one finger.”
Kilmeade reminded Trump that he once promised “one hundred percent” to secure Lai’s freedom, a comment that gave hope to Lai’s family.
“I didn’t say 100% I’d save him,” Trump said on Thursday. “I said 100%, I’m going to be bringing it up.”
Lai is 77 years old and in poor health. He has been held in solitary confinement for over 1,500 days. The Chinese Communist government is intent on prosecuting him as a traitor for “colluding with foreign forces” to bring democracy to Hong Kong.
Lai was also accused of publishing “seditious material” through his popular newspaper Apple Daily, which was shut down by Beijing’s puppet government in Hong Kong in June 2021.
Lai is currently in the final stages of his protracted Hong Kong trial, which began in late 2023.
The court granted Lai medication and a heart monitor on Monday, after his lawyer said he experienced episodes of weakness and “palpitations” during the grueling trial. Court-watchers noted he has lost a substantial amount of weight during his long spell in solitary confinement.
“Given his age, given his health, yeah, he will die in prison,” Lai’s son Sebastian told the BBC at the beginning of his trial.”
Hong Kong officials insisted he was receiving “adequate” nutrition and medical care, and accused foreign media of attempting to mislead their readers about his medical condition to drum up sympathy.
In the final stage of the trial, prosecutors said Lai colluded with foreign governments – specifically the United States under the first Trump administration – to get “sanctions or blockades or other hostile activities” imposed against China.
The Chinese Communist regime has angrily rebuffed calls from the United States, the United Kingdom (which counts Lai as a citizen), and other governments and human rights groups to release Lai.
“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,” Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said last week.
Liu insisted Lai would be tried and punished as “a key orchestrator and participant in anti-China, destabilizing activities in Hong Kong.”
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