MPs Call for Immediate Release of Hong Kong Democracy Activist Jimmy Lai

Parliamentarians from around the world are calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Hong Kong businessman and British citizen Jimmy Lai.
Lai, a long-time backer of the Hong Kong democracy movement and critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is set to testify in his trial for the first time on Nov. 19.
He is being held in solitary confinement after being accused of violating the CCP-imposed Hong Kong National Security Law.
Ahead of Lai’s court appearance, shadow Foreign Office minister Alicia Kearns released a joint statement condemning the “ongoing arbitrary detention and unfair trial of Jimmy Lai, a British citizen, peaceful pro-democracy campaigner, publisher, and prisoner of conscience.”
The statement continues: “The trial itself is tainted with unfairness. It is before hand-picked judges, evidence allegedly obtained by torture is being used against him, and it has been subject to lengthy delays.”
Expressing concern over the political prisoner’s spiritual wellbeing, the statement noted, “Jimmy Lai, a practising Catholic, has been denied Holy Communion for almost a year.”
The letter’s signatories said they stand with the British, U.S., and Canadian governments; the European Parliament; five UN Special Rapporteurs; and leaders of the Catholic Church in calling for Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to release Lai and let him return home to the UK, “before it is too late.”
“The world is watching as the rule of law, media freedom and human rights in Hong Kong are eroded and undermined. We stand together in our defence of these fundamental freedoms and in our demand that Jimmy Lai be released immediately and unconditionally,” the letter concluded.
During the meeting, Starmer said that he was pleased UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi “met recently to discuss respective concerns, including human rights and parliamentary sanctions, Taiwan, the South China Sea, and our shared interest in Hong Kong.”
Other concerns from MPs and human rights groups include the CCP’s activities in the former British overseas territory of Hong Kong, activities in the Taiwan Straight, as well as Beijing’s backing of Russia in the Ukraine conflict.
“Keir Starmer is ‘kowtowing’ to the world’s greatest threat to the democratic global order.”