Opinion

Trump must force Xi to answer for China's cruel war on Jimmy Lai

The 78-year-old Hong Kong media mogul was sentenced to 20 years under China's national security law in February

By Lauren Green Fox News

Published May 13, 2026 5:45am EDT

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Jimmy Lai’s daughter reveals she sent letter to American Olympian skiing for China about father’s imprisonment

Claire Lai, daughter of imprisoned Hong Kong pro-Democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, discusses Olympic skier Eileen Gu’s decision to compete for China on ‘The Ingraham Angle.’

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President Trump is heading to China this week, and one person watching closely is Claire Lai, the daughter of Jimmy Lai. Her father is a Hong Kong businessman, media mogul and faithful Catholic who has been imprisoned and sentenced to 20 years by the Communist regime for being an outspoken critic of the Chinese government.

More than 100 U.S. lawmakers have sent President Trump a letter urging him to address Lai’s case with Chinese President Xi Jinping when he meets with China’s leader. Claire, on the other hand, has a few words for Xi herself.

"If my father dies behind bars, he will die a martyr. And that is not something that China wants."

That her father may die in prison is a possibility Claire has come to terms with. Her father, the 78-year-old billionaire businessman Jimmy Lai, a faithful Catholic and political prisoner, was sentenced by a Beijing-backed Hong Kong court in February, consigned to spend what will be the rest of his natural life behind bars.

WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY: RELEASE MY FATHER JIMMY LAI, WHO PUBLISHED WHAT CHINA'S LEADERS DID NOT WANT TO HEAR

He was found guilty in December of sedition and conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces. His sentence is the longest handed down under China's new national security law. It’s a statute many experts believe was created for the sole purpose of silencing Lai, one of the communist country's most ardent critics.

Claire was not able to attend the sentencing. "I was heartbroken," she says. "It was the first time that he had been sentenced where I wasn't in Hong Kong with him. ... It was a hard pill to........

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