Jimmy Lai’s son makes emotional plea for his release ahead of Xi Jinping’s Washington visit

Police lead Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai away from his home following his arrest in Hong Kong on August 10, 2020. — AFP pic

First Published: Thursday, 17 Sep 2026 9:57 AM MYT

WASHINGTON, Sept 17 — The son of jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai called for his release on Wednesday ahead of a visit to Washington by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“A week from now, President Xi will be a guest in this city,” Sebastien Lai told a hearing of the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

“Our appeal to him is simple,” Lai said. “My father poses no threat. His imprisonment makes him a symbol of injustice.

“His death in prison would be a disgrace,” he said. “Let Jimmy Lai come home to his family.”

Jimmy Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in February after being found guilty of foreign collusion and seditious publication.

The sentence was the harshest penalty doled out so far under a national security law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing after widespread pro-democracy protests in 2019 and received international condemnation.

At a separate event in the US capital Wednesday, campaigners and religious leaders called for the release of others who have been detained in China, urging Beijing to allow for freedom of religion.

Xi is scheduled to meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House on September 24.

Trump said in May following a visit to China that he had discussed Lai’s fate with Xi but his release was unlikely.

Freeing Lai is a “tough one for him to do,” the US president said.

But China released the founder of an underground church, Ezra Jin, after Trump raised his case with Xi – and family members of others who have been detained are hoping for more breakthroughs.

“This summer, I saw reason to hope,” said Ziba Murat, the daughter of retired Uyghur physician Gulshan Abbas.

Abbas has been held for around eight years following alleged terrorism charges. But Murat believes that her mother’s detention was linked to the human rights activism of her aunt – who is American.

“This is bigger than my family,” Murat told an event in Washington, adding that Chinese authorities can threaten relatives of Americans to pressure them.

She urged Trump to call for her mother’s release: “Her case sends a message about what America will and will not allow foreign governments to do to its citizens.” — AFP