US president Donald Trump has said he “doesn’t feel optimistic” that jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai will be freed.
Ahead of his high-stakes meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week, Trump had said he would raise Mr Lai’s imprisonment in Hong Kong and the arrest of pastor Jin Mingri of Zion Church in the mainland.
But after raising the case of jailed Hong Kong democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai in talks with Mr Xi he was told it “is a tough one”.
Speaking in an interview with Fox News he explained that despite helping “hundreds of people out of different situations”, the response “was not positive” in regards to the release of Jimmy Lai.
“He said it has been his worst nightmare. He went through a whole thing and we said we would appreciate it if you would release him, he’s gotten old and he’s probably not feeling too well. I did not feel optimistic, I've got to be honest with you,” Mr Trump said in the interview.
Speaking on board Air Force One as he returned from his two-day visit to China, Mr Trump said he believes Mr Xi is seriously considering freeing a church pastor detained in China, but is less hopeful over the plight of Mr Lai.
The 78-year-old was the founder of Apple Daily, a Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper, which was shuttered due to state pressure.
Mr Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison in February on disputed collusion and sedition charges. However, the British citizen has denied any wrongdoing.
He was awarded the maximum prison sentence under Beijing’s national security law and is likely to die in prison without intervention.
Since his arrest in December 2020, he has reportedly been kept in solitary confinement, despite mounting concerns for his deteriorating physical health.
In 2024, Trump pledged to secure his release, but he is yet to have any success.
Speaking to NBC News on Thursday, secretary of state Marco Rubio said: “We’d be open to any arrangement that would work for them, as long as he’s given his freedom.”
Mr Lai's son, Sebastien Lai, earlier this week said he “held hope” that Hong Kong would “act rationally and release my father” if the US president pressed the issue during meetings with president Xi.
Sebastien Lai lauded Mr Trump’s record as “an incredible negotiator” and “one of the best deal makers” in his appeal.
“That’s why we have so much hope on his visit,” he said. “This is a case he genuinely, from my understanding, cares about and he’s someone who’s an incredible negotiator. So hopefully I’ll get to see my father again.”
Trump said he also discussed the release of Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri of the Zion Church, which he is more confident about.
He was detained at his home in Beihai in China’s southeast Guangxi province in October last year, along with dozens of other church leaders in Beijing and at least five other provinces across China.
They may face charges of “illegal dissemination of religious content via the internet”, according to Sean Long, a Chinese Zion Church pastor currently studying in the US.