Jimmy Lai’s 20-year prison sentence made his release an uphill task, and President Donald Trump acknowledged as much on Air Force One, saying freeing the Hong Kong activist was "a tough one". Trump said he raised Lai’s case with Xi Jinping during a two-day visit to China but that Xi’s response was "not positive" and he "did not feel optimistic" about Lai’s chances. He said Beijing appeared more open to considering the case of pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, whom Trump described as a case China was "seriously considering". Trump left China without any announcement of a release, leaving Lai’s family and supporters to press other diplomatic routes.

The read from the flight home was blunt. Jimmy Lai, 78, is serving a 20-year sentence under China’s national security law, and Mr Trump told reporters on Air Force One that persuading Xi Jinping to free him would be difficult. "I did bring it up, but it’s a tougher one for him," the president said, adding in a later interview with Fox News, "I didn't feel optimistic."

What Mr Trump asked and what he heard back

Mr Trump said he raised two individual cases with Xi on the trip, those of Jimmy Lai and Ezra Jin Mingri. He described the pastor’s case as one China was "seriously considering," suggesting Beijing treated the two men differently. By contrast, Mr Trump quoted Xi as calling Lai "a tough one".

The exchange mattered because Lai is a high-profile British citizen. He founded the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, which has since closed, and was arrested in 2020 amid a wider crackdown on the Hong Kong protests of 2019. Lai was sentenced in February to 20 years in prison after being convicted on national security charges. His legal team and family have raised urgent health concerns, saying he is diabetic, has lost significant weight, and has been held in solitary confinement without air conditioning in a facility where summer temperatures can reach about 44C.

Claire Lai, his daughter, thanked Mr Trump for raising her father’s case and said, "He has earned his reputation as liberating the unjustly detained and I am confident he and his administration will be the ones to free my father." Other family members and supporters, who had publicly appealed to Mr Trump and other Western officials ahead of the trip, expressed appreciation after Mr Trump said he had spoken to Xi about both men.

Mastheads

Why Beijing resisted

Beijing has defended Lai’s prosecution. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, accused Lai of being a mastermind behind anti-China activity during the 2019 unrest.

China’s foreign ministry has declined to treat the matter as international, telling questioners that Hong Kong affairs are internal. Hong Kong officials have argued Lai’s prosecution is unrelated to press freedom.

Those are the contours Mr Trump faced at the summit. His team cited previous diplomatic interventions by the United States when discussing detained foreigners, but no release was secured during this visit.

Families and allies had pinned hope on external pressure as one of the few levers that might win leniency for Lai, but Mr Trump left without a clemency announcement.

Mr Trump’s willingness to raise the cases underlines a rare moment of high-profile diplomatic pleading on behalf of an individual held under China’s national security law. It also demonstrates the limits of that approach when Beijing treats cases as matters of its domestic order rather than as bilateral issues.

The difference Mr Trump reported between the two cases is stark. He said Xi appeared more likely to consider freeing Ezra Jin Mingri, the pastor, while characterising Lai as harder for Beijing to release. That distinction tracks the positions made publicly by China and Hong Kong authorities, who have framed Lai’s prosecution in political terms that leave little room for outside pressure to effect a reprieve.

Supporters of Lai have emphasised the activist’s age and health. The combination of a 78-year-old defendant, serious medical concerns, and a long sentence has been the clearest appeal point in calls for clemency or compassionate release. Those appeals found a receptive ear in Mr Trump, even if they didn't change the outcome of the China visit.

Related Articles

Mr Trump left China without a clemency announcement for Mr Lai, and Beijing reiterated that Hong Kong affairs are an internal matter for China.

This article was created with AI assistance.