A bipartisan group of more than 30 senators led by Rick Scott of Florida urged President Trump ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping to secure the release of pro-democracy leader Jimmy Lai.
The lawmakers said in a letter to the president that Mr. Lai is currently “unjustly imprisoned by the Communist Chinese regime and faces deteriorating health conditions.”
“We have deep respect for your outspoken advocacy for Mr. Lai. You understand the urgency of his plight: a devout Catholic, a beloved husband, father, and grandfather; and an ardent campaigner for freedom,” the lawmakers wrote of the Hong Kong political activist.
“Now, after almost five years in solitary confinement, Mr. Lai’s trial under Hong Kong’s National Security Law is coming to an end, but time is not on his side — he must be released immediately.”
They wrote, “The humanitarian case for Mr. Lai’s release is stronger and more dire than ever, which is why this must be addressed at the highest possible level. At 78 years old, he is in poor and deteriorating health.”
Mr. Trump leaves Washington Friday for a week-long tour of Asia with an ambitious to-do list of high-stakes meetings, including with Mr. Xi, which could reshape a global economy that’s already grappling with his reordering of trade relations.
Mr. Lai is a diabetic and suffers from numerous physical ailments that are compounded by his continuing incarceration, the lawmakers noted.
“Mr. Lai’s representatives have assured us that if he is released, he will leave Hong Kong and never return,” they said. “He would have no desire to remain in public life.”
However, they warned, “Should he die in prison, on the other hand, he would become a martyr; a powerful and enduring symbol of opposition.”
Mr. Lai founded Apple Daily, Hong Kong’s only mass-circulation Chinese-language newspaper. Its editorial position supported China’s official “one country, two systems” policy toward the island.
In 1984, Beijing and Britain agreed on that constitutional principle for Hong Kong: There would be only one China, but each region would retain its own governmental system and conduct its own legal and economic affairs.
In 2000, following pro-democracy protests on the island, the Chinese Communist Party retaliated by having Hong Kong adopt the National Security Law.
This statute went back on the original agreement by criminalizing free speech in Hong Kong under the heading of subversion, secession, treason and “external interference.”
Apple Daily’s headquarters were raided, and Hong Kong authorities froze its and Mr. Lai’s assets. The political prosecution of Mr. Lai began.
Prior to winning his second term, Mr. Trump promised to free Mr. Lai.
“One-hundred percent I’ll get him out. He’ll be easy to get out,” Mr. Trump said during an interview on a podcast.
However, last August, Mr. Trump did not seem as confident about his prospects of gaining the release of Mr. Lai.
“I didn’t say 100% I’ll save him. I said 100% I’m going to be bringing it up, and I’ve already brought it up, and I’m going to do everything I can to save him,” he told Fox News Radio’s “Brian Kilmeade Show,” adding that Mr. Xi won’t be “thrilled.”