Jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s son criticises UK for ‘failing to speak out’ against crackdown

The son of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has called the UK government “incredibly weak” after it failed to condemn and act against the crackdown on dissent in mainland China.

The 75-year-old founder of the now-shut Apple Daily newspaper is behind bars in a high-profile case filed by Hong Kong’s authorities after a crackdown on the pro-democracy movement. He was accused of “colluding with foreign forces” and charged with sedition under the contentious national security law.

Mr Lai’s British-origin son Sebastien Lai on Wednesday slammed the “hypocrisy” displayed by some governments still trying to trade with China as unexpected.

“We are incredibly grateful that the Americans have been a lot stronger on these values that we all share… than the UK government. The UK government has been incredibly weak,” he said.

Mr Lai was speaking at an event in Washington about the human rights situation in Hong Kong.

“It’s very sad to see a democratic government being afraid or asking permission, even to speak on behalf of one of its citizens that is in prison for freedom of speech,” he said.

“It’s just ridiculous,” Mr Lai said.

He also criticised the Rishi Sunak administration for not calling on authorities in Hong Kong to release his father, who is a British national.

This comes as Britain’s minister for investment Dominic Johnson holds a series of meetings with government officials and executives in Hong Kong this week, marking the first such official visit to the city in five years.

Earlier, US congressperson and chair of the House of Representatives select committee on China, Mike Gallagher, criticised the Vatican for not speaking up out on the arrest of Mr Lai, a Catholic.

“The silence from the Vatican on China’s human rights abuses and Jimmy’s case, in particular, is deafening,” Mr Gallagher said.

In January this year, a spokesperson for Mr Sunak said a junior Foreign Office minister had met Jimmy Lai’s legal team and that the ministry had provided him with support for some time.