The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said that China has experienced a “heavy hatred” by Hong Kong journalist Jimmy Lai, who has been in prison for over a year, considering it unlikely that he would get out of prison.
© Lusa
13/11/2026
by
Lusa
O President of the United States, Donald Trump, said that China has a “heavy hatred” for the former tycoon of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy media, Jimmy Lai, considering it unlikely that it will come out of prison.
Jimmy Lai, 78 years old, businessman and founder of the newspaper “Apple Daily”, today closed, was sentenced in early February to 20 years in prison, for collusion with the foreigner and seditious publication, having received the most severe sentence issued under the national security law imposed by Beijing.
The law was introduced in 2020, following pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Sometimes violent, these protests shook the territory returned by the United Kingdom to China in 1997.
Several human rights associations and foreign governments called for the release of Jimmy Lai. Donald Trump stated in May that he had already discussed the case with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
“ There is intense hatred about this issue,” Donald Trump said in an interview with the American channel Salem News Channel on Thursday.
“President Xi explained what happened in Hong Kong and (...) that Jimmy Lai was the leader, which caused them immense difficulties,” Trump explained.
The President of the United States, who is expected to meet with the Chinese counterpart next week, during an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit (APEC) in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, has shown little optimism about Lai.
“I have already arranged for others to be released. Jimmy Lai is a slightly different case,” Trump said, in an apparent reference to the release of Pastor Ezra Jin this year, after the US head of state had approached the case with Xi.
Ezra Jin and other leaders of the Zion Church of Beijing were arrested in October 2025 during a repressive operation against unauthorised religious congregations in China.
In May, Trump personally approached Ezra's case with Xi Jinping when he visited him in Beijing and in July the pastor was released and flew to Los Angeles to meet with the family.