Sebastien Lai, the son of imprisoned pro-democracy activist and tycoon Jimmy Lai, has appealed for “urgent” intervention from the UK as his father’s health continues to decline in solitary confinement.
Jimmy Lai, a British citizen and prominent critic of the Chinese Communist Party, has been incarcerated in Hong Kong since December 2020, serving almost six years for lease fraud—typically a civil matter—and facing additional charges for sedition and collusion with foreign forces.
Sebastien told Sky News that he hopes UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy emphasized during his recent visit to China the untenable nature of normalizing relations while a British national remains imprisoned for advocating for freedoms. “It is impossible to normalize the relationship if they still have a British national imprisoned for standing up for freedoms that underpin our democracy,” he asserted.
Highlighting the urgency of his father’s situation, Sebastien shared, “I haven’t seen my dad in four years since his arrest at the end of 2020. He’s nearly 77 years old and has been kept in solitary confinement for that entire time. His health has deteriorated significantly, so this is about bringing my father home and saving his life.”
During a recent Prime Minister’s Questions session, UK opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer stated that securing Jimmy Lai’s release is a “priority” for the government.
While in Beijing, Lammy addressed various topics, including human rights issues concerning Lai and the alleged mistreatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. He also discussed foreign policy and security matters, particularly the supply of equipment by Chinese companies to the Russian military and the ongoing situation in the Middle East.
However, there was no specific mention of Taiwan during Lammy’s discussions, which follow recent large-scale military exercises conducted by China around the island.
In his remarks about Sino-British relations, Mr. Wang, China’s foreign minister, suggested that the two nations were at a “new starting point,” asserting that major power competition should not define the current era.
The British government has previously initiated an audit of its relationship with China due to allegations of cyber attacks and spying activities on British soil, claims that Beijing has dismissed as “completely fabricated.”
As the situation develops, Sebastien Lai emphasizes the need for continued advocacy and support for his father, whose plight reflects broader challenges faced by activists in the region.
Credit: Sky News
