Family members and friends of Jimmy Lai, a businessman and a pro-democracy newspaper owner in Hong Kong, are holding out hope that he can still be released after his guilty verdict on national security and sedition charges, if President Donald Trump and other world leaders put pressure on Chinese leader Xi Jinping to free him.

On Monday, both Trump and British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called for Lai’s release.

“I feel so badly. 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.”

Cooper noted that Lai is a British citizen and said she had summoned the Chinese ambassador after hearing the verdict.

“But for the sake of Jimmy Lai, for his family, but also for the people of Hong Kong, for the joint Declaration we signed, and for the rule of law, we will not relent on this,” Cooper said. “Joined by nations across the world, we call again for the immediate release of Jimmy Lai.”

Trump’s remarks came just hours after Lai, 78, was found guilty on three charges—one sedition charge and two charges of violating the National Security Law, a heavy-handed 2020 law ushering in a human rights crackdown after pro-democracy protests dominated

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