Media mogul Jimmy Lai is facing life imprisonment after being convicted of sedition and colluding with foreign forces in a Hong Kong court earlier this week.Julia Demaree Nikhinson/The Associated Press
G7 countries have issued a formal statement calling for the immediate release of jailed Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai, increasing pressure on China to free him on humanitarian grounds.
The media mogul, who has close family and extensive business interests in Canada, was convicted of sedition and colluding with foreign forces in a Hong Kong court Monday and is facing life imprisonment.
The guilty verdict has drawn condemnation worldwide, including in Canada, where MPs and his Canadian relatives joined human rights and press freedom advocates in calling for him to be freed.
Mr. Lai, 78, has been in solitary confinement for five years since being charged under Hong Kong’s national security law. The law was imposed by Beijing in 2020 after months of pro-democracy protests and has led to the jailing of dozens of people including activists.
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In the joint G7 statement issued on Wednesday, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States, as well as the High Representative of the European Union, condemned the prosecution of Mr. Lai and the guilty verdict.
“We continue to express our concerns about deteriorating rights, freedoms and autonomy in Hong Kong. Freedom of expression and opinion, and media freedom, are enshrined in Hong Kong’s Basic Law,” it said.
“We call on the Hong Kong authorities to end such prosecutions and to release Jimmy Lai immediately.”
The millionaire businessman has diabetes and his family and legal team are gravely concerned for his health.
Earlier this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand called for Mr. Lai’s release, along with MPs from across the political spectrum.
In Britain, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper raised the verdict of Mr. Lai, a British citizen who is now awaiting sentencing, in the chamber of the House of Commons.
U.S. President Donald Trump, told reporters Monday he had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to consider freeing Mr. Lai.
“I feel so badly. I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release,” Mr. 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.”
Jimmy Lai’s Canadian family, MPs call for his release on humanitarian, health grounds
MPs in Canada want Prime Minister Mark Carney to raise Mr. Lai’s plight when he visits China for talks. Mr. Xi invited Mr. Carney to Beijing when they met in October on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders’ Meeting in South Korea.
Mr. Carney is attempting to heal a diplomatic rupture with China and boost trade. He did not comment publicly on Mr. Lai’s guilty verdict this week.
Mr. Lai founded the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong, and was a prominent critic of the Chinese Communist Party before his arrest in 2020. He had pleaded not guilty to all the charges. His arrest was part of a wider crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong, a former British colony that was known for press freedom.