Jimmy Lai, owner of Hong Kong-based media company Next Media Ltd, leaves the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) headquarters in Hong Kong Sept. 17, 2014. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)
The sentence also puts renewed pressure on President Donald Trump, who has previously spoken out about Lai’s detention and is expected to travel to Beijing in April amid broader negotiations with China.
Human rights advocates and some lawmakers have urged Trump to raise Lai’s case directly with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, warning that silence would be read in Beijing as acquiescence.
Trump said in December 2025 that he had personally urged Xi to release Lai.
"I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release," Trump said. "He’s not well, he’s an older man, and he’s not well, so I did put that request out. We’ll see what happens."
Hong Kong authorities convicted Lai of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, a national security offense under the Beijing-imposed law. Prosecutors argued that Lai and his co-defendants used his media platform and international network to lobby for sanctions, blockades or other hostile actions by foreign governments against China and Hong Kong — actions the court said threatened national security.
Judges labeled Lai the "mastermind" of the alleged plots.
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Lai also was convicted of conspiracy to publish seditious materials under a separate provision of Hong Kong’s colonial-era Crimes Ordinance, applied in conjunction with the national security regime. Prosecutors cited hundreds of Apple Daily articles they said were designed to "incite public hatred or contempt" against authorities.
Lai and his defense team rejected that characterization as criminalizing expression.
Sebastien Lai and Sen. Marco Rubio pose for a photo with a poster of Lai's father. (Fox News)
The younger Lai said his father’s case should serve as a warning for Taiwan, arguing that Beijing’s promise of autonomy under a "one country, two systems" model in Hong Kong has revealed how tightly mainland China ultimately controls the territory.
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Lai already has spent more than five years in prison, serving a separate sentence for a fraud conviction and for organizing unauthorized assemblies during the protests.
His defense has argued the case criminalized political speech and journalism rather than genuine national security threats. They say Lai’s calls for international pressure on Beijing amounted to lawful advocacy and that meetings with U.S. officials and media appearances were routine for a prominent publisher and democracy advocate, not evidence of conspiracy.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rubio-blasts-china-over-unjust-tragic-20-year-sentence-hong-kong-democracy-activist-jimmy-lai