Overview
- Sebastien Lai told the Congressional‑Executive Commission on China on Wednesday, Sept. 16, that his 78‑year‑old father should be freed on humanitarian grounds and returned to his family.
- He said his sister, Claire Lai, began chemotherapy in London and could not attend the hearing, and he warned that Jimmy Lai’s health has worsened after nearly six years in restrictive custody.
- A Hong Kong court sentenced Jimmy Lai in February to 20 years under the Beijing‑imposed national security law, a punishment widely described in reporting as the harshest to date under that law.
- Advocates and some U.S. officials have elevated the case in Washington before Xi’s visit, and President Trump has raised Lai’s situation with Xi in past talks, but no release has been announced.
- The case is now framed as both a direct humanitarian plea for an ageing prisoner and a test of China’s treatment of critics and of Hong Kong’s press freedoms, with observers watching whether diplomacy around the Sept. 24 meeting produces any change.