"The remarks come after the first trip to China by a UK leader in eight years, during which Keir Starmer is said to have raised the case of the former media tycoon and one of Hong Kong's most significant pro-democracy voices. In December 2025, Lai, a British citizen, was convicted of national security offences in December after a near two-year trial that international rights groups criticised as politically motivated and an attack on press freedom."
"If it is so important then surely there should be some conditionalities put on my father's release. The trip was a big thing to have been given away, the embassy as well, said Lai, speaking at an all-party parliamentary group on arbitrary detention and hostage affairs hearing on his father's case. The UK government wants closer ties with the world's second biggest economy and approved the new highly contested Chinese embassy in London last month."
Sebastien Lai told parliament that the UK government failed to place conditions on the release of his imprisoned father, Jimmy Lai, during the prime minister's China trip. Jimmy Lai was convicted in December 2025 of national security offences after a near two-year trial that international rights groups called politically motivated and an attack on press freedom. Sebastien warned that his father's incarceration raises humanitarian and national security concerns and that time is running out because of the 78-year-old's deteriorating health in solitary confinement. Sebastien met the foreign secretary weeks before the trip. Parliamentary criticism targeted the decision to proceed without securing concessions on Lai's case.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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