Trump says China bears ‘hatred’ for Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that China harbours a “great level of hatred” towards Hong Kong’s pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai and is unlikely to release him from jail.

Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was sentenced in February to 20 years in prison on charges of foreign collusion and sedition following widespread pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

Rights groups and foreign governments have called for Lai’s release, and Trump said in May that he had previously discussed the case with President Xi Jinping.

“There’s a great level of hatred there,” Trump told Salem News Channel in an interview.

“President Xi explained what happened with Hong Kong and… that Jimmy Lai was the leader (of the pro-democracy movement), and it caused them tremendous distress,” the US president said.

Trump is due to meet Xi next week at the Apec gathering in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.

But the US president was not optimistic about the prospect of Lai’s release.

“I’ve gotten others out. Jimmy Lai’s a little bit of a different story,” Trump said.

Beijing freed the founder of an underground church, Ezra Jin, after Trump raised his case with Xi in May.

However, Trump said in May that Jimmy Lai is “a tough one” for Xi.