WASHINGTON—When President Donald Trump heads to Beijing this spring, he&#8217;ll have the opportunity to do what pretty much no one else in the world can: convince Chinese President Xi Jinping to free Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy newspaper publisher and media tycoon imprisoned by the Chinese Communist Party.
The 78-year-old Lai was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison under a national security law used by the Chinese Communist Party to crack down on dissenters. At his age, and with his declining health, the CCP&#8217;s sentence means he&#8217;ll die in prison.
Lai is a Chinese-born British citizen who published &#8220;Apple Daily&#8221; in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Chinese authorities arrested top executives at the publication and froze its assets in 2021, and, after a two-year trial and five-year detention, Lai was convicted in December 2025 of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and publish seditious material.
Authorities paint him as &#8220;the mastermind and behind-the-scenes manipulator,&#8221; celebrating the 20-year-sentence.
His daughter, who advocates on her father&#8217;s behalf in the United States, describes him very differently. In an interview with The Daily Wire, Claire Lai praised her father&#8217;s courage in the face of oppression. She shared that he mails her letters from prison — letters that include prayers of deep faith and acceptance, offering his sufferings up to Jesus Christ and encouraging his fellow prisoners to do the same.
&#8220;From the very first day I went to visit him, I remember I was very emotional,&#8221; Claire told The Daily Wire. Her father comforted her, she says, by telling her that &#8220;he&#8217;s in God&#8217;s good hands, and he&#8217;ll find ways to serve him from behind bars.&#8221; 
&#8220;I know that God will continue to give him the strength to persevere in faith,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We need to persevere in fighting for his freedom.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1041709" style="width: 429px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=1041709" rel="attachment wp-att-1041709"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1041709" class="wp-image-1041709 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.59.53-AM-419x576.png" alt="Claire Lai with her father Jimmy Lai. " width="419" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.59.53-AM-419x576.png 419w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.59.53-AM-218x300.png 218w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.59.53-AM-768x1055.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.59.53-AM.png 1026w" sizes=" (max-width: 419px) 100vw, 419px" /></a>Claire Lai with her father Jimmy Lai.</div>
Trump has said that he will do everything he can to save Lai. He will head to Beijing in April, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/04/trump-and-chinas-xi-speak-by-phone-ahead-of-beijing-trip-00764343">POLITICO reports</a> (though the White House says dates have not yet been finalized), where Lai&#8217;s family hopes the president will make the case for their father&#8217;s freedom.
“I feel so badly,” Trump said in December after Lai&#8217;s conviction. “I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release. 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.”
On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the Hong Kong High Court’s decision to sentence Lai to 20 years, calling it &#8220;an unjust and tragic conclusion to this case.&#8221; Rubio urged the authorities to grant Lai humanitarian parole, arguing that Lai and his family &#8220;have suffered enough.&#8221;
&#8220;It shows the world that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, casting aside the international commitments Beijing made in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration,&#8221; Rubio said.
Asked by The Daily Wire about Lai&#8217;s fate during the White House press briefing Tuesday, Karoline Leavitt <a href="https://x.com/realDailyWire/status/2021301791229411718?s=20">suggested that the president may advocate for Lai</a> in April.
“This is something I&#8217;ve heard the President advocate for, both publicly and privately,&#8221; she told The Daily Wire. &#8220;I had the honor of being in that meeting with President Trump and President Xi in South Korea that took place, and this was brought up by the President himself. It is important to him, and he looks forward to visiting China in April.”
Lai&#8217;s daughter is incredibly grateful for the strong American interest in her father&#8217;s plight and hopeful that American intervention might save her father.
&#8220;We are extremely grateful,&#8221; she said, &#8220;to [Trump] and to his administration, [that has] a proven track record of freeing those [who] were unjustly detained abroad and doing so with a high degree of success. We are just hopeful that our father will be one of them.&#8221; 
Lai&#8217;s friends and family have highlighted his plight for years. Claire&#8217;s brother Sebastian Lai lives in London, where he leads the international campaign to free his father. Her mother remains in China and was present at Jimmy&#8217;s sentencing on Monday.
In interviews, they describe how he was arrested and detained, and forced to spend more than 1,800 days in solitary confinement.
China&#8217;s 2020 National Security Law is so vaguely worded and so arbitrarily applied that Claire Lai knows she could face retribution for speaking out in her father&#8217;s defense while in China. She has lived in the United Kingdom and the United States for the past few years as she begs the world to help save her father.
She takes great solace in her Catholic faith, which she shares with both her mother and her father. Jimmy Lai is a Catholic convert with a deep love for Jesus Christ. His daughter shares that he used to draw pictures of Jesus Christ on the cross for other prisoners until he was told by his prison guards that he was no longer permitted to do so.
From prison, he writes to his daughter, offering her prayers of comfort and solace.
&#8220;The day that [British Prime Minister Keir Starmer] flew to China, I was feeling quite uneasy,&#8221; she reflected to The Daily Wire, recalling the day that Starmer went to China to meet with President Xi. She went to mass at Immaculate Conception Church, a parish in Washington D.C., and prayed for the strength to accept whatever happened to her father.  
&#8220;A few days later I got a letter from Dad,&#8221; she shared, &#8220;and in his letters he sends me his prayers and he basically echoed what I was feeling in that moment&#8230;he was in our Lord&#8217;s good hands.&#8221; 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=1041967" rel="attachment wp-att-1041967"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-1041967 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3081-1024x360.png" alt="" width="1024" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3081-1024x360.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3081-300x106.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3081-768x270.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3081.png 1199w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
&#8220;I think that that&#8217;s what has seen him through the last few years,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And at times it&#8217;s really just our good Lord which has seen him through the bad days.&#8221; 
Claire Lai shared copies of her father&#8217;s prayers exclusively with The Daily Wire, prayers in which Jimmy Lai surrenders his future to Jesus Christ, asking Jesus Christ to &#8220;work in me and through me.&#8221;
<blockquote>
You are the all-seeing, all-knowing God. Your eyes, oh Lord, are in every place&#8230;You are present and conscious of all I think, every deed or act, however slight, every word, however quick&#8230;every thought of my heart, however secret, however momentary. However forgotten, you see, O Lord, you see and note down&#8230; “Whither shall I go from your Spirit?” (Ps 139:7) I am in your hands, O Lord, absolutely.
</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=1041969" rel="attachment wp-att-1041969"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-1041969 size-large aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3079-821x576.png" alt="" width="821" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3079-821x576.png 821w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3079-300x210.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3079-768x539.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3079.png 1282w" sizes=" (max-width: 821px) 100vw, 821px" /></a>
In another prayer, Jimmy Lai acknowledges the longevity of his imprisonment thus far, offering his sickness and confusion up for &#8220;some great end which is quite beyond us&#8221; and arguing that Jesus Christ &#8220;does nothing in vain.&#8221;
<blockquote>
We are all created to His glory. We are created to do His will. Therefore: I will trust him&#8230;if I am sick; my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if in sorrow, my sorrow may serve him. My sickness or my perplexity or my sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end which is beyond us. He does nothing in vain. Lord, deign to fulfill your high purposes in me whatever they may be. Work in me and through me.
Cheers, Dad.
</blockquote>
And in yet another letter, he tells his daughter that his suffering over the past few years has brought him closer to God.
<blockquote>
I am actually most grateful for God to have put me through this suffering in order for me to get closer to His presence. What a joy and treasure for this life and next. God’s action confounds us but always turns out to be marvellous for us.
</blockquote>
Lai&#8217;s daughter is also deeply religious, mentioning multiple Catholic saints during her conversation with The Daily Wire, including Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest imprisoned by Nazis in Auschwitz who offered to die in the place of another prisoner. When she is particularly worried about her father, she shared, she goes to mass in the evenings and receives the Eucharist, which is a huge source of comfort to her.
&#8220;In that moment I know what Maximilian Kolbe meant,&#8221; she said, quoting the Catholic martyr, who is remembered saying: “If angels would be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion.”
&#8220;It&#8217;s exactly what I needed, and I think it was our good Lord giving me comfort. I don&#8217;t think anyone can convince me otherwise. I know he&#8217;s giving my father strength to persist in faith.&#8221;
For Catholics, receiving the Eucharist at Mass is of pivotal importance, since Catholics believe that receiving the Eucharist allows the faithful to be closely united with Jesus Christ himself. But for about two and a half years, Claire says, her father was denied the Eucharist in prison. The Chinese government told them that he was receiving the Eucharist regularly, but she insists they were lying.
&#8220;I counted,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He received it, in 2.5 years, a total of 11 times. That is not regular.&#8221; 
<div id="attachment_1041687" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=1041687" rel="attachment wp-att-1041687"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1041687" class="wp-image-1041687 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-456234504-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-456234504-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-456234504-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-456234504-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-456234504.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy supporter Jimmy Lai attends a rally near the government headquarters in Hong Kong on September 28, 2014.  (Photo by ALEX OGLE/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Outside pressure occasionally leads to better treatment for her father, but over the past five years, his treatment has gone from bad to worse. She speaks to him through physical letters that they mail to each other. She writes to him about once a week, but often doesn&#8217;t receive his responses for up to a month as they are processed.
His health is failing him. He has been diabetic for over 30 years, and throughout his imprisonment, Claire and the rest of his family have watched Jimmy&#8217;s pre-existing health conditions worsen due to a lack of care. She says his blood sugar is checked once every three weeks, and he&#8217;s developed new health conditions — heart issues, blood pressure problems, an enlarged spleen, and more.
The United Kingdom and the United Nations have requested that the Chinese government send an independent consultant in to check on him, she says, but that has been rejected.
&#8220;We are extremely worried for his health and the conditions in which he&#8217;s kept,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;His body is failing, but he is such a spirited man.&#8221; 
<div id="attachment_1041713" style="width: 856px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=1041713" rel="attachment wp-att-1041713"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1041713" class="wp-image-1041713 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM-846x576.png" alt="Claire Lai with her parents. " width="846" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM-846x576.png 846w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM-300x204.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM-768x523.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM-1536x1046.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM.png 1924w" sizes=" (max-width: 846px) 100vw, 846px" /></a>Claire Lai with her parents.</div>
Jimmy Lai is imprisoned with a number of other political prisoners in Hong Kong, his daughter shared. Many of them are not Catholic or even Christian, and Jimmy has sought to convert his fellow prisoners by drawing the crucifixion for them.
&#8220;On the other side, he would write instructions on how to pray, sometimes what to read, and sometimes he would ask me to get certain books, or get the Bishop Barron&#8217;s &#8216;Word on Fire&#8217; for them,&#8221; she explained, referring to the work of Bishop Robert Barron. 
&#8220;One day, the guards told him that he has to stop sending it to prisoners because some people have decided to convert as a result,&#8221; she said sadly. 
There was one agnostic prisoner, imprisoned a few months after her father, who was struggling intensely with his new life in prison. His distress finally prompted him to ask Jimmy for help learning how to pray, she said, and the two men began exchanging letters back and forth. Her father drew a picture of Jesus Christ crucified for the agnostic prisoner, telling him, according to his daughter, that &#8220;when the suffering gets too much for you, just pretend like you&#8217;re hiding under his feet, and offering your suffering up to him.&#8221; 
&#8220;That would make it all better,&#8221; Claire says, &#8220;because&#8230;if you&#8217;re looking for God&#8217;s grace, you really don&#8217;t have to look far.&#8221; 
The other prisoner wasn&#8217;t immediately convinced. But one day, Claire says, her father got a letter from the prisoner, saying: &#8220;I know what you mean now.&#8221;
&#8220;That really touched me,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I have always been Catholic, but if I was agnostic and I was going through a whole different, and intense suffering, I&#8217;m not sure if I could have done that, but he did.&#8221;
That is the legacy Jimmy Lai will be remembered for in his Hong Kong prison, by his family, and by his many supporters throughout the world: a man who prayed through his suffering and taught others to pray with him.
His daughter is still hopeful that he will be freed. Yet, at the same time, she knows that the grief-stricken past few years have taught her exactly what he wished.
&#8220;At the start of his imprisonment he said all he wanted was for us, his children, to see the reality of the world through the grace and mercy of God,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And I am reminded that is what he always did.&#8221;

Jimmy Lai Collage

Why Donald Trump’s Visit To Beijing Could Decide Jimmy Lai’s Fate

China

Donald Trump

Jimmy Lai

Marco Rubio

The latest release of FBI files reveals little evidence that Jeffrey Epstein ran a sex-trafficking ring, Vice President JD Vance becomes the highest-ranking American official to visit Armenia, and a Hong Kong court sentences pro-democracy CCP critic Jimmy Lai to prison.
It’s Tuesday, February 10, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">FBI’s Epstein Files Findings</h2>
Analysis of newly released Epstein documents shows that the FBI found little evidence that Jeffrey Epstein was running a sex-trafficking ring for powerful individuals. According to an analysis of millions of documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the FBI found insufficient evidence that Epstein was operating a sex-trafficking ring involving other wealthy or influential people. While the files confirm that Epstein sexually abused underage girls, there was not enough evidence to prove that he supplied minors to other powerful men. These conclusions are based on media reports of released DOJ and FBI documents, such as internal memos, and the DOJ has not issued an independent statement confirming these findings. Some politicians and commentators say there are far too many redactions and not enough of the documents have been released. The DOJ says many documents could not be made public for several reasons, including victim privacy.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Vance’s Historic Armenia Trip</h2>
Vice President Vance became the first president or vice president in American history to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-new-beginning-jd-vance-signs-nuclear-deal-in-historic-visit-to-armenia?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98A+New+Beginning%E2%80%99%3A+JD+Vance+Signs+Nuclear+Deal+In+Historic+Visit+To+Armenia">travel</a> to Armenia this week. He met on Monday with Armenia’s Prime Minister, who signed a document reaffirming Armenia’s commitment to peace with Azerbaijan. The peace was negotiated six months ago by President Donald Trump after more than 30 years of conflict. The vice president also announced a deal for the United States to sell Armenia $11 million in drone technology, and that the two countries are working on a civil nuclear agreement. Stepan Sargsyan, a former Armenian governor who works closely with the prime minister, spoke to The Daily Wire about Armenia’s geopolitical importance: “The United States has a strategic interest into region because, both Armenia and Azerbaijan, being in the South Caucasus, represent an important corridor which serves as a bridge between East and West, be it for various oil and gas pipelines or trade between China and Europe.”
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Jimmy Lai Sentenced</h2>
In what’s being seen as a major blow to the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, British businessman Jimmy Lai was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hong-kong-court-sends-ccp-critic-pro-democracy-publisher-jimmy-lai-to-prison-for-20-years">sentenced</a> to 20 years in prison on Monday. Lai’s newspaper, Apple Daily, was widely seen as the last free press outlet in Hong Kong. Lai is now 78 years old, which means he could very likely spend the rest of his life in prison. His chances of escaping now lie with President Trump, according to Robert Sirico, a Catholic priest and longtime friend of Lai. Trump has previously pushed for Lai’s release, and he has another meeting scheduled with Xi Jinping, head of China&#8217;s ruling Communist Party, in April. That could be where a deal for Lai is negotiated. Sirico told The Daily Wire in December, after Lai was convicted, that Lai’s release should be a top priority, despite the complexity that bargaining over Lai’s life would cause in international relations. “We are being judged by this, the way we react to this man. This man needs to be a Solzhenitsyn. He needs to be a Mandela. He needs to be seen in that light,” said Sirico.

US-POLITICS-JUSTICE-EPSTEIN

Morning Brief: The FBI’s Epstein Findings, JD Vance In Armenia, & Jimmy Lai Sent To Prison

Armenia

Hong Kong

JD Vance

Jeffrey Epstein

Morning Wire

Pro-democracy newspaper publisher Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong on Monday under a national security law imposed by Beijing and widely used to crack down on critics of the Chinese Communist Party. 
Lai, a 78-year-old Chinese-born British citizen and media tycoon, was convicted in December 2025 of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and to publish seditious material. His newspaper, Apple Daily, was published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021, when authorities froze its assets and arrested top executives, forcing it to shut down.  
China governs Hong Kong as a special administrative region, but Beijing has tightened its grip in recent years, imposing the law used to prosecute and sentence Lai.
Lai was accused of supporting the massive pro-democracy protests that broke out in Hong Kong in 2019 and has been detained since his arrest in August 2020, spending more than 1800 days in solitary confinement. He was held under the 2020 National Security Law, which punishes speech or conduct that the government claims threatens its authority. 
“We welcome the court’s heavy sentence of 20 years for Jimmy Lai. It highlights his role as the mastermind and behind-the-scenes manipulator,” Hong Kong police official Steve Li after the sentencing on Monday. 
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/08/world/jimmy-lai-sentenced-hong-kong">reported</a> that Lai smiled and waved to supporters in the courtroom gallery after his sentencing. Six former Apple Daily employees were also sentenced Monday, receiving prison terms ranging from six to ten years.  
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper <a href="https://x.com/FCDOGovUK/status/2020740332262961171">said</a> Lai’s prosecution was “politically motivated” and that he was punished for expressing his viewpoints. 
&#8220;For the 78-year-old, this is tantamount to a life sentence. I remain deeply concerned for Mr Lai’s health, and I again call on the Hong Kong authorities to end his appalling ordeal and release him on humanitarian grounds, so that he may be reunited with his family,” she said. 
Claire Lai, Jimmy Lai’s daughter, called the sentence “heartbreakingly cruel.” 
“If this sentence is carried out, he will die a martyr behind bars,” she said. 
Sebastian Lai said that his father had &#8220;decided to dedicate his life to defending the freedoms of Hong Kong&#8221;.
&#8220;For that heroism, he&#8217;s being punished, he&#8217;s essentially getting a death sentence for that,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cq5yv581e9yt">told</a> the BBC. &#8220;Surely a man who has given so much for liberty, for freedom, deserves a bit of it himself.&#8221;
The State Department condemned the sentencing and called for Lai&#8217;s release. 
&#8220;The Hong Kong High Court’s decision to sentence Jimmy Lai to 20 years is an unjust and tragic conclusion to this case. It shows the world that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, casting aside the international commitments Beijing made in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration,&#8221; Marco Rubio said. &#8220;After enduring a trial lasting two years, and detention in prison for more than five, Mr. Lai and his family have suffered enough.  The United States urges the authorities to grant Mr. Lai humanitarian parole.&#8221;
Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), the chair of the House Select Committee on China, said that the sentencing was the “latest stain on the human rights record of the Chinese Communist Party.” 
“Lai and his Apple Daily colleagues are being punished for exposing the truth about the CCP&#8217;s attacks on the rights of Hong Kongers,” he said. “President Trump made it abundantly clear to General Secretary Xi in October that Lai should be freed and allowed to leave Hong Kong to be with his family.”

China Imposes National Security Law In Hong Kong

Hong Kong Court Sends CCP Critic, Pro-Democracy Publisher Jimmy Lai To Prison For 20 Years

Beijing-Imposed Law Sends 78-Year-Old CCP Critic, Pro-Democracy Publisher To Prison For 20 Years

Chinese Communist Party

Democracy

Media

United Kingdom

World

Imagine if, today, Hong Kong judges declared imprisoned media mogul Jimmy Lai innocent of sedition.
Such a decision would have rehabilitated the reputation of the Chinese Communist Party, which governs Hong Kong. It would have shown that under Xi Jinping, China is capable of rendering justice, a safe place for investors, and a worthy member of the community of nations. 
Of course, none of that happened. On Monday, Lai was declared guilty in a Beijing-controlled Hong Kong court that has long since ceased to behave like a real institution of justice.
This piece could have been written months ago. The verdict was preordained. The performance has been elaborate. And the point could not be more explicit: China intends to demonstrate that even a man of extraordinary achievement, wealth, international attention, and moral courage can be ground down when he refuses to bow.
The question that now confronts us in the West is whether we will continue pretending not to notice.
For nearly four years — over 1,500 days — Jimmy Lai has been held by one of the world’s most powerful states for the “crime” of publishing a newspaper and advocating liberties that were once taken for granted in Hong Kong.
The machinery of repression has been draped in legal garments: national security charges, “collusion with foreign entities,” and a farcical, 140-day trial before three government-approved judges sitting without a jury.
But no one observing this process can confuse it with justice. Lai’s real offense is moral, not legal. He refused to be silent. And more remarkably, he refused to leave Hong Kong, even though he holds British citizenship.
His suffering exposes a larger crisis than Beijing intends. The West’s response — or lack thereof — has revealed a distressing hollowing out of the very values we claim to defend.
It is fashionable in diplomatic circles to speak of Jimmy Lai as a symbol: a symbol of press freedom, a symbol of Hong Kong’s struggle, a symbol of China’s tightening grip. But symbols, by their nature, can be admired at a distance. They do not make demands. They do not interrupt trade deals, unsettle foreign ministries, or challenge ecclesial diplomacy.
Jimmy Lai is not a symbol. He is a man: a husband, father, entrepreneur, Christian convert, and a friend. His imprisonment is not merely a geopolitical incident. It is a moral scandal. And to ignore it is to participate in it.
In a sense, the trial is his. But in a deeper sense, it is ours.
Western democracies often proclaim that human dignity precedes the state, that rights derive not from a party but from a higher moral order. Jimmy Lai believes this too — indeed, he has lived it more courageously than many who declaim it from the safety of parliamentary benches or editorial pages.
What is being tested now is not his resolve, but ours. So far, we are failing.
There have been statements, to be sure. The occasional speech. A scattered diplomatic demarche. But from most governments — and all too often from global institutions that exist to defend human rights — the silence has been strategic. Clear speech about Jimmy Lai would require clear policies toward Beijing. It would impose costs. And modern democracies have grown adept at identifying moral obligations they can safely ignore.
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The Vatican’s silence has been perhaps the most dispiriting. Hong Kong’s elderly cardinal, Joseph Zen, who has stood with Jimmy in the courtroom, sees his Church’s reticence for what it is: a misreading of the Chinese Communist Party by leaders who know persecuted communists but not communist persecutors.
This silence is not neutrality. It is complicity.
The West Kowloon courtroom where Jimmy’s trial unfolded is modern enough: glass boxes, metal detectors, and a gaudy display of armed police meant to intimidate observers. The judges, bewigged in the British manner, give the proceedings the solemn appearance of common law.
But the substance is pure fiat. The prosecution spent 52 days marching the court through subscription lists, emails, tweets, and circulation figures — routine journalism recast as treason.
Apple Daily, the outlet Lai founded, sold a million copies at its height. The state now treats that popularity as evidence of criminal conspiracy. Jimmy steadily denied inciting violence or calling for sanctions, insisting instead that Apple Daily gave voice to Hong Kongers’ desire for freedom.
I watched him from the gallery, sitting behind glass, frail after years in solitary confinement. His wife, Teresa, gripped her rosary. Cardinal Zen, 93 next month and himself under tight state restrictions, sat beside us. When Jimmy caught my eye and nodded, I traced the sign of the cross. His eyes filled with tears.
This is not the behavior of a man plotting insurrection. It is the quiet dignity of conscience under persecution.
The transformation of Hong Kong is part of a wider crisis within China itself. Since the National Security Law took effect in 2020, over 300 people have been arrested for political offenses; 45 pro-democracy activists have received sentences of up to ten years simply for organizing primaries. Beijing recently expanded the NSL to include vague categories like “external interference,” ensuring that any political dissent can be retroactively criminalized.
This is the portrait of a regime tightening control because it has lost the capacity to inspire.
Hong Kong’s extraordinary success was built on precisely the principles Beijing now fears: rule of law, open markets, free expression. Its people created a global entrepôt through ingenuity and liberty.
These habits of freedom do not vanish easily. If mainland Chinese — from tycoons to factory workers — were ever allowed to see that prosperity and liberty are twins, the Party’s foundation would tremble even if the Chinese people (and the world) would prosper.
Perhaps that is why Jimmy Lai is so dangerous.
Now that the official verdict has been handed down, Beijing will claim it is a matter of law. It is not. It is a matter of fear. The CCP — an empire of 1.4 billion — fears a single newspaper publisher because he embodies something they cannot permit: a free man.
Jimmy Lai could have escaped all this. He had the wealth, the passport, and the opportunity. But he stayed because Hong Kong “gave me my freedom,” he said, and he felt obliged to defend it. In this, he resembles other prisoners of conscience: Mandela, Solzhenitsyn, and the unnamed young man who stood before a tank on a Beijing boulevard 36 years ago.
The West has the power to elevate the cost of holding Jimmy Lai. The United Kingdom, of which Lai is a citizen, could apply targeted sanctions. The United States could treat his case with the urgency it affords other political prisoners. The Vatican could speak with the clarity and courage of its own martyrs. And ordinary citizens can demand that their governments act.
Silence, too, is an action.
The British educator Arnold Toynbee once wrote that civilizations do not die from murder but from suicide. The test of our generation is whether we are still willing to defend the principles on which our free societies are built — or whether we will barter them for trade access and diplomatic convenience.
The world will watch Monday’s verdict with predictable outrage. But outrage without action is merely performance. If we abandon Jimmy Lai, we lose more than one man’s liberty. We lose our own moral clarity. We forget what freedom looks like, sounds like, and demands of us.
Jimmy has repeatedly said that the truth will prevail, even if only “in the kingdom of God.” Let us prove that it can prevail in Hong Kong as well — and that the free world still remembers how to act like one.
***
Fr. Robert Sirico is a Catholic priest and co-founder and President Emeritus of the Acton Institute (<a href="https://www.acton.org/">www.acton.org</a>).
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Hong Kong Jimmy Lai National Security Law Court Case

Jimmy Lai’s Guilty Verdict — And The West’s

Christian Persecution

Christianity

Communist China

Closing arguments were finally <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/27/asia/jimmy-lai-hong-kong-trial-intl-hnk">completed</a> at the end of August in the National Security Law trial of Hong Kong businessman Jimmy Lai. Mr. Lai stands accused of colluding with foreign powers and faces life in prison. In all likelihood, the court will find Jimmy Lai guilty and sentence him to prison. 
While we await the final verdict, the West should make a plan to help free Jimmy Lai.
To say Jimmy Lai has lived a remarkable life is an understatement. Born in mainland China, the now 77-year-old Lai moved to British Hong Kong when he was 12, where he believed he would have a better future. Starting out working in a factory, Lai worked his way up, eventually owning his own factory before starting the world-famous fashion brand, Giordano. As a billionaire with homes in London, Paris, and New York, Lai could have easily rested on his laurels and enjoyed a quiet retirement. However, Lai had a great appreciation for the political and economic system that allowed him to build his wealth.
As a British colony, Hong Kong enjoyed the rule of law and free market economics that allowed it to thrive. However, the handover of the city back to communist China loomed large. In an effort to fight for the values that made Hong Kong great, Jimmy Lai founded the Apple Daily newspaper. Becoming one of the largest pro-democracy newspapers in Hong Kong, Apple Daily and its founder fell in the crosshairs of the communists in mainland China through its pro-liberty content. Lai himself drew attention through his annual commemoration of the Tiananmen Massacre, a huge sore spot for Beijing.
While <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/hong-kong-freedoms-democracy-protests-china-crackdown">promised</a> a degree of autonomy for 50 years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has gradually encroached on the freedoms of Hong Kong, a city of 7.4 million people. The Basic Law, Hong Kong’s constitution, promises freedom of speech and rule of law; the past few decades, however, have seen a gradual erosion of these rights. For example, millions of Hong Kongers took to the streets to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49340717">protest</a> a proposed law that would allow Hong Kongers to be extradited for trials in mainland China. While this law was retracted, it wasn’t long before something similar was implemented to take its place.
That brings us to the <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/03/what-is-hong-kongs-article-23-law-10-things-you-need-to-know/">National Security Law</a> (NSL), which came into effect in 2020. Essentially, the NSL criminalizes any speech or behavior that the government sees as threatening its authority. For Jimmy Lai and other pro-democracy activists, this put them in danger. As was feared, the NSL has resulted in the arrest of hundreds of people. In a city once famous for its independent courts, the NSL has seen a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/29/china/hong-kong-47-verdict-intl-hnk">conviction rate</a> near 100%.
It was shortly after the implementation of the NSL that Jimmy Lai found himself in legal trouble. In August 2020, Lai was <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/08/10/900758905/prominent-hong-kong-publisher-arrested-under-new-national-security-law">arrested</a> and paraded through Apple Daily’s office, allegedly for colluding with foreign powers. The truth, however, was that Lai objects to the authoritarianism of the CCP and wants to fight to preserve the freedoms that made Hong Kong great.
<div id="attachment_971739" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-971739" class="size-large wp-image-971739" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1227987205-866x576.jpg" alt="HONG KONG, CHINA - AUGUST 10: A handout photo from Apple Daily showing Hong Kong business tycoon Jimmy Lai led by police officers during a search at the headquarters of Apple Daily after Lai, was arrested at his home on August 10, 2020 in Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong police arrested seven people, including business tycoon Jimmy Lai on Monday on charges of violating the territory's new national security law. Police officers raided the pro-democracy newspapers headquarter while leading Mr. Lai and the company's chief executive, Cheung Kim-hung, through the offices in handcuffs. (Photo by Handout/Getty Images)" width="866" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1227987205-866x576.jpg 866w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1227987205-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1227987205-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1227987205.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" />Handout/Getty Images</div>
It isn’t just the cause that makes Jimmy Lai a hero: Lai didn’t need to face the risk of arrest. In addition to his various homes around the world, Lai is a British passport holder. He could have fled Hong Kong at any time after the NSL became law. Many Hong Kongers already have. Running, however, is not in Jimmy Lai’s nature. As he <a href="https://www.hoover.org/research/jimmy-lai-and-fight-freedom-hong-kong-1">put it</a>, “I am one of the troublemakers. I cannot cause trouble and then leave.” Lai risked everything by fighting for liberty and again risked it by staying when he could have left.
Even while he waits for a verdict, Lai faces terrible <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2025/09/04/jimmy-lais-life-at-serious-and-immediate-risk-in-detention/">prison conditions</a>. He is being held in solitary confinement, 23 hours a day. He has significant health problems but is being denied proper care. There is a good possibility that Lai could die in prison simply due to the conditions of his imprisonment, which is why the West must act quickly.
What can be done? For starters, political figures across the West should continue calling for Lai’s release. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/13/china/trump-jimmy-lai-closing-arguments-intl-hnk">President Trump</a> has joined the chorus of <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/the-dissident-beijing-cant-break-jimmy-lai-hong-kong">international voices</a> calling for Lai’s freedom. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer needs to fulfill his country’s obligation to stand up for Hong Kong’s autonomy. Lai is a British passport holder and therefore he is Starmer’s responsibility. In addition to public pressure, Starmer must also pause the construction of a new <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c864w2942vdo">Chinese mega embassy</a> in London. China should not be allowed a larger presence in the British capital while it actively persecutes dissidents.
Western governments can also sanction those involved in the administration of NSL trials. The U.S. has already <a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-sanctions-six-individuals-for-undermining-hong-kongs-autonomy">sanctioned</a> several Hong Kong officials, but it can expand them to include senior HK officials such as Chief Executive John Lee, as well as the judges involved in these trials. The “One Country, Two Systems” framework promises Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy, something the NSL interferes with.
Finally, other economic tools can also be applied. Legislatures should consider efforts such as tariffs on Chinese goods as a way to put pressure on Beijing. Restricting the flow of advanced microchips into China would hit the Chinese government where it hurts and impose a cost for its oppression of Hong Kongers like Jimmy Lai.
The Chinese will, of course, counter by saying this is foreign interference in an internal matter. The problem with that argument is that China’s promises to Hong Kong are recorded in a legally binding international treaty, the <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8616/">Sino-British Joint Declaration</a>. Sanctions are an appropriate response to breaking that treaty.
So, why should the West care about what happens to Jimmy Lai? First, what happens in Hong Kong doesn’t necessarily stay there. The Chinese government already has an extensive network set up to threaten dissidents living abroad. The construction of the mega embassy means these efforts will only continue and affect more British citizens. Second, Lai represents a voice for liberty in Hong Kong and China as a whole. If we want freedom to thrive, the world needs people like Jimmy Lai.
The clock is ticking for Jimmy Lai. Any day now, the judges hearing his case could sentence him to life in prison. His health and prison conditions mean his stay behind bars could quickly lead to his death. If the West wants to preserve its own freedom and that of Hong Kong’s, it needs to act to save Jimmy Lai.
* * *
<a href="https://www.joinyv.org/talent/matthew-cookson">Matt Cookson</a> is an alumnus of the Young Voices Contributor Program and was a Middle East History and Policy Fellow with Young Voices. He also works in the supply chain for a U.S. Defense Contractor. His commentary has appeared in the Mises Institute, Real Clear Politics, the National Interest, Providence Magazine, China Source, and the Idaho Freedom Foundation. You can follow him on X @<a href="https://x.com/MattCookson95">MattCookson95</a> and Substack @<a href="https://substack.com/@thewaythecookiecrumbles?utm_source=user-menu">thewaythecookiecrumbles</a>. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The Clock Is Ticking For Jimmy Lai. Time For The West To Act.

Free Speech

Great Britain