Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, founder of Next Digital, is facing a five-year detention for allegedly violating the National Security Law in Hong Kong. The trial concluded in August with the closing arguments, but the decision date is still pending. Lai, who will celebrate his 78th birthday on the 8th, is reported to be in deteriorating health, according to his children.
Lai’s son, Ian Lai, and daughter, Elaine Lai, spoke to Agence France-Presse at their office in Washington. Elaine revealed that their father has significantly lost weight and appears much weaker than before. She described his nails turning purple, gray, and green before falling off, and his teeth decaying. She mentioned seeing her father a few months ago before leaving Hong Kong.
Elaine criticized the prison authorities for refusing to allow her devout Catholic father to receive communion and attempting to undermine his morale in subtle ways. She recounted that after learning he liked curry sauce, the prison not only did not give him more but completely stopped providing it to him. Elaine described these various subtle tactics as extremely childish.
Ian expressed hope that US President Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer would continue to raise his father’s case with China. Ian stated, “It would only take two hours to put my father on a plane and out of Hong Kong. It would be a humane and right thing to do. They have made him suffer hellish torment.”
According to AFP reports, Lai is facing a minimum of 15 years in prison, which for him is almost like a death sentence.
In October, over 30 bipartisan senators in the United States wrote to President Trump, urging him to address the case of Jimmy Lai during his meeting with Xi Jinping at the end of the month. The letter revealed that Lai’s representatives “have assured us” that if released, he would leave Hong Kong and not engage in public life again. “If he dies in prison, he will become a martyr—a powerful and enduring symbol of resistance.”