A detained US scholar’s wife asks Trump for help as Xi’s Washington visit nears
Sylvia Zin said Trump’s past pressure has helped free detainees and urged him to press Xi for her husband’s release, citing his ongoing health concerns.
- On Wednesday, Sebastien Lai testified before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China in Washington, urging his father Jimmy Lai's release one week before Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit the United States.
- Jimmy Lai, a prominent critic of Beijing, founded a pro-democracy newspaper shut down during a 2019 crackdown. A Hong Kong court sentenced the 78-year-old to 20 years in prison in February under a Beijing-imposed national security law.
- Describing his father as a 78-year-old man who has "already suffered enough," Sebastien Lai requested his release to sit beside daughter Claire, who began chemotherapy in London last week.
- President Donald Trump has previously raised Lai's case with Xi during a May state visit to China; with the two leaders expected to meet in Washington on Sept 24, observers see potential for diplomatic deal-making.
- Sebastien Lai warned that if his father is not freed soon, the aging activist will "most likely die in prison." The 78-year-old faces a 20-year sentence in Hong Kong, underscoring the case's urgency.
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Congress Hears Pleas For Release Of God-Fearing Chinese Democracy Advocate
Lai also said during his testimony that his sister, Claire Lai, was supposed to testify before the panel alongside him Wednesday but was diagnosed with cancer earlier this month and is currently undergoing chemotherapy in London.
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Yong-rae = The son of imprisoned Hong Kong anti-China journalist Jimmy Lai [attended] on the 16th (local time) ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the U.S....
Jimmy Lai's son urges dad's release ahead of Xi's US visit
Jimmy Lai’s son urges President Xi to release the jailed Hong Kong media mogul ahead of Xi’s US visit, highlighting human rights concerns and international calls for freedom. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Families of Jimmy Lai, Min Zin plead in Washington for their release ahead of Xi's visit
The son of imprisoned former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai appealed for his father's release at a congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday, one week before Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit the U.S.
Key news items from VOA's "Today's Focus" on September 17, 2026 include: US Treasury Secretary Bessenter to meet with Ho Li-feng to finalize trade outcomes for the "Trump-Xi meeting"; the Federal Reserve raises interest rates for the first time in three years; on the eve of Xi Jinping's visit to the US, a US congressional hearing calls for the release of Jimmy Lai; Steve Yates discusses human rights; Randy Shriver discusses Taiwan; the US House …
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