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The U.S. urged China to reverse what Secretary of State Marco Rubio called an “unjust and tragic” sentence against Hong Kong publisher and democracy activist Jimmy Lai, after Beijing-backed courts handed the 78-year-old a 20-year prison term under the national security law.
“The conviction shows the world that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong,” Rubio said in a statement. “The United States urges the authorities to grant Mr. Lai humanitarian parole.”
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) used Hong Kong’s courts to sentence Lai on Monday, cementing one of the most consequential national security cases since Beijing imposed a sweeping new law in the wake of months-long anti-CCP protests.
Lai, a billionaire media entrepreneur, founded the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper in 1995 once Hong Kong’s most outspoken pro-democracy publication. He is among the highest-profile figures arrested under the 2020 National Security Law Beijing imposed following the unrest.
The protests, sparked by fears Beijing was eroding Hong Kong’s promised autonomy, were followed by a sweeping security crackdown that criminalized dissent and reshaped the city’s legal system.
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Jimmy Lai, owner of Hong Kong-based media company Next Media Ltd, leaves the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) headquarters in Hong Kong Sept. 17, 2014. (Tyrone Siu / Reuters)
The sentence also puts renewed pressure on President Donald Trump, who has previously spoken out about Lai’s detention and is expected to travel to Beijing in April amid broader negotiations with China. Human rights advocates and some lawmakers have urged Trump to raise Lai’s case directly with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, warning that silence would be read in Beijing as acquiescence.
Trump said in December 2025 that he had personally urged Xi to release Lai.
“I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release,” Trump said. “He’s not well, he’s an older man, and he’s not well, so I did put that request out. We’ll see what happens.”
Hong Kong authorities convicted Lai of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, a national security offense under the Beijing-imposed law. Prosecutors argued that Lai and his co-defendants used his media platform and international network to lobby for sanctions, blockades or other hostile actions by foreign governments against China and Hong Kong — actions the court said threatened national security.
Judges labeled Lai the “mastermind” of the alleged plots.
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Lai also was convicted of conspiracy to publish seditious materials under a separate provision of Hong Kong’s colonial-era Crimes Ordinance, applied in conjunction with the national security regime. Prosecutors cited hundreds of Apple Daily articles they said were designed to “incite public hatred or contempt” against authorities.
Lai and his defense team rejected that characterization as criminalizing expression.
Crowds of protesters marching on the streets of Hong Kong during the demonstration on January 1, 2020. Anti-CCP demonstrations led to a major crackdown. (Willie Siau / SOPA Images via Getty )
Sebastian Lai, the publisher’s son, said the sentence effectively amounts to a life term given his father’s age and deteriorating health.
“20 years, he’s 78 years old now. This is essentially a life sentence — or more like a death sentence, given the conditions he’s being kept in,” Sebastian Lai said on FOX Business Monday. He said his father has lost significant weight in detention and now suffers from heart issues and diabetes, adding, “we’re incredibly worried about his life.”
Sebastian Lai said his father, a Catholic, remains “a man of deep faith” despite years in detention, believing “no matter how hard the conditions he was under, that he still did the right thing.”
He also recalled that his father declined multiple opportunities to leave Hong Kong before his arrest, choosing instead to stay rather than abandon his principles or colleagues.
Sebastien Lai and Sen. Marco Rubio posing for a photo with a poster of Lai’s father. ()
The younger Lai said his father’s case should serve as a warning for Taiwan, arguing that Beijing’s promise of autonomy under a “one country, two systems” model in Hong Kong has revealed how tightly mainland China ultimately controls the territory.
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Lai already has spent more than five years in prison serving a separate sentence for a fraud conviction and for organizing unauthorized assemblies during the protests.
His defense has argued the case criminalized political speech and journalism rather than genuine national security threats, saying Lai’s calls for international pressure on Beijing amounted to lawful advocacy and that meetings with U.S. officials and media appearances were routine for a prominent publisher and democracy advocate, not evidence of conspiracy.
