The son of jailed tycoon Jimmy Lai urges UK to match rhetoric with action, demanding his father’s release be a condition for improved UK–China relations.
Jimmy Lai, a 78- year-old British public, was condemned by a Hong Kong court for conspiracy and sedition under the public security enactment executed by Beijing.
The now-defunct Hong Kong daily Apple Daily was created by Mr. Lai, apro-democracy contender who has constantly blamed the Chinese government.
The public security enactment, which was enforced in response toanti-government demonstrations the time before, led to his incarceration in 2020.
Since then, Mr. Lai has been in solitary confinement for the maturity of the time and has entered a not guilty plea to all of the allegations against him.
Downing Street condemned the verdict reached, with the Prime Minister’s official spokesman saying:
“We will continue to appeal to the Chinese government ahead of Jimmy Lai’s sentencing for his release and access to medical treatment.
Jimmy Lai’s case has been a priority for this Government and the Prime Minister, and as the Foreign Secretary has said, we condemn the politically motivated prosecution that has resulted in today’s guilty verdict.”
He added:
“The UK has repeatedly called for Beijing’s national security law to be repealed and for an end to the prosecution of all individuals charged under it, and we will continue to call for his immediate release.”
When asked if Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer still intended to visit China and meet its leaders next year, he emphasized that the UK "cannot shy away from engagement" with the nation.
The spokesperson declined to comment on whether the government intended to call the Chinese ambassador over Mr. Lai's case.
Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, criticized the ruling of the Hong Kong court earlier on Monday.
Following her comments, Mr Lai’s son Sebastien Lai told a media briefing:
“The reason why I’m here is to free my father and in order to do that the UK Government has to do more.”
He said he is grateful for Ms Cooper’s statement
“but now it’s time to put action behind words and, you know, make my father’s release a precondition to closer relationships with China.
Because how can you expect a fruitful relationship if they can’t even put a 78-year-old man, who’s in such ill health, on a plane and send him back home here in the UK where he belongs?”
He claimed that the more than 800-page ruling contained
"virtually nothing, there's nothing that incriminates him, there's nothing that even under their own legal system would make him guilty."
Mr. Lai told reporters that it is a "perfect example" of how the law "has been molded and weaponized against someone who essentially said stuff that they didn't like."
“We’re talking about smear campaigns… which is what the Chinese government might call what we’re doing now, and the reporting that you guys are doing.
I think it’s hard to smear the Hong Kong legal system more than this judgment and more than this trial.”
A reporter asked if Sir Keir’s Beijing visit would be a “pivotal moment” and Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, leading Mr Lai’s international legal team, responded:
“The short answer is yes.
Closer engagement with China must come in close alignment in ensuring that our interests are protected, and we are very concerned that there has been a headlong rush into closer and closer relations without ensuring that our core interests are protected, including, in particular, a British national detained behind bars.”
Mr. Lai informed the briefing that his staff is in communication with the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) and that he has met a number of foreign secretaries.
According to Mr. Lai, his father's nails are falling out and he has cardiac problems.
Ms Cooper has said:
“Jimmy Lai has been targeted by the Chinese and Hong Kong governments for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression.
Beijing’s national security law was imposed on Hong Kong to silence China’s critics.”
He has been "baking" in a dark cage while Hong Kong has had 50 days above 33C over the past two years, so these issues are "no surprise," Mr. Lai continued.
The shadow foreign secretary, Dame Priti Patel, called Mr. Lai's case "an outrage to democracy, personal freedom and liberty" and a "political show trial."
She added:
“His degrading treatment and imprisonment at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party’s authoritarian regime has been appalling.”
"Directly raise Jimmy's case with President Xi (Jinping) and demand Jimmy's immediate release from custody so his ordeal can end, he can be returned to Britain and be reunited with his family,"
Dame Priti told Sir Keir.
A number of MPs from different parties chastised the government for not acting more forcefully prior to Mr. Lai's conviction.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arbitrary Detention and Hostage Affairs said:
“The conviction represents a failing by the UK Government which has not unequivocally demanded his release.
While other countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia have secured the release of their nationals from arbitrary detention in China and Hong Kong, the UK has failed to do so despite the unique relationship between the UK and Hong Kong enshrined in international obligations in the Basic Law.
If the UK had taken faster, firmer and more fervent action to secure his release Jimmy Lai could be spending Christmas with his family where he belongs, rather than arbitrarily detained in Hong Kong.”
Amnesty International’s China director Sarah Brooks said:
“The predictability of today’s verdict does not make it any less dismaying – the conviction of Jimmy Lai feels like the death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong, where the essential work of journalism has been rebranded as a crime.
Lai has been jailed simply because he and his Apple Daily newspaper criticised the government. The activities for which he has been convicted would never have been considered crimes before the 2020 National Security Law was enacted.”
What impact could making release a precondition have on UK China ties?
Making Jimmy Lai's release a precondition for near UK- China ties would probably strain bilateral relations, risking stalled trade addresses and retaliatory measures from Beijing. China views similar demands as hindrance in its sovereignty, especially on Hong Kong matterspost-NSL, potentially halting progress on profitable discourses like the UK- China Economic and fiscal Dialogue.
UK exports to China, worth £20bn annually in goods like buses and ministry, could face tariffs or request access walls, as seen in once controversies over Xinjiang cotton. Investment flows, including Chinese backing for UK structure, might induce, aggravating post-Brexit challenges amid Rachel Reeves' growth docket.
While bolstering UK moral credibility on mortal rights, the precondition pitfalls domestic counterreaction if it detainments green tech deals or force chain stability, given China's part in critical minerals. Judges prognosticate short- term bite but long- term adaptability if severed from core profitable regulators.