Himself a noted victim of lawfare, President Donald Trump should now push Beijing to order political prisoner Jimmy Lai released — ASAP.
On Monday, 54 organizations signed onto The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation’s appeals to Congress and Trump “to take strong, concrete steps” to force Hong Kong and its Chinese Communist Party overlords to release Lai.
Time is running out to act: Lai, 78 and in poor health, will die in prison if not allowed to go into exile.
Going to the mat for the pro-democracy activist before his next (kangaroo!) court date, now set for Jan. 12, isn’t just the right thing to do — it will also signal to China’s rulers that they can’t expect Washington to turn a blind eye when they criminalize being a friend to the United States, and promoting Western values.
Look: His communications with US leaders, including members of Congress and administration officials and public messages to Trump himself, were a good part of the evidence used to convict him on bogus “foreign collusion” charges.
In reality, Hong Kong’s crooked courts persecuted him purely for his fearless advocacy for democracy and freedom of speech through his paper, Apple Daily.
As soon as it’s back in session, Congress should pass two bills to 1) crack down on Hong Kong for helping America’s enemies dodge sanctions and 2) reassess and possibly revoke privileges given to the Hong Kong’s US trade offices in the 1990s — benefits it no longer deserves as a freedom-squashing puppet of the CCP.
Trump can bring his own hammer down by sanctioning the Chinese and Hong Kong officials who targeted Lai, including the prosecutors who brought the sham charges and the three CCP-lapdog judges who convicted him.
He can also keep advocating for Lai’s release in all talks with China, making it plain that Uncle Sam sees this imprisonment as an ongoing injustice.
Beijing and Hong Kong undoubtedly hope the West will just forget this persecution, but the entire case is an affront to the values America holds most dear as well as an insult to Trump personally: Again, Lai’s “crimes” included tweets addressing the prez.
Bigger picture: Taking up Jimmy Lai’s cause isn’t just about one man; it’s about proving the United States won’t sit back and watch freedom fighters get railroaded.
