TOP NEWS
Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation Junior Policy and Advocacy Manager Chloe Cheung testified to the British parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights about her experience after Hong Kong authorities issued a bounty for her arrest.
The British resident said: “The UK government must finally act against transnational repression by imposing targeted Magnitsky-style sanctions on the individuals and entities involved, including those responsible for issuing bounties, conducting surveillance, and threatening activists on UK soil.”
Chloe Cheung giving oral testimony to a British parliament inquiry into transnational repression. (UK parliament TV)
Pressure for Hong Kong authorities to release Jimmy Lai intensified as his son, Sebastien Lai, met with State Department and National Security Council officials in Washington D.C.
Speaking to reporters, Sebastien Lai said his 77-year-old diabetic father is being held in solitary confinement and “there is a real fear that he might pass away at any time.”
Sebastien Lai stands outside the White House after meeting Trump administration officials
in Washington D.C. (Free Jimmy Lai team)
U.S. – Hong Kong
Writing in the New York Post, Sebastien Lai appealed directly to President Trump to burnish his reputation for getting things done by negotiating his father’s release.
In the same newspaper, CFHK Foundation President Mark Clifford urged Americans to add their voices to efforts to free Jimmy Lai, noting Lai’s deep ties to the U.S. and that his meetings with first Trump administration officials have been cited in his ongoing show trial.
At a Cato Institute event in support of efforts to free Jimmy Lai, Mark Clifford also called on the U.S. government to leverage sanctions on Hong Kong officials and the closure of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in the U.S. to press for his former colleague’s release.
UK – Hong Kong
Mark Clifford wrote an Independent op-ed urging the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, to work with U.S. President Donald Trump to help free Jimmy Lai.
The British government said it would waive Electronic Travel Authorisation requirements for British National Overseas passport holders, ensuring that Hong Kongers convicted of political crimes can take advantage of a pathway to safety on UK shores.
This Saturday, March 15, the CFHK Foundation will join other UK-based Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, Uyghur, and Chinese dissident campaign groups to protest against the proposed new Chinese super-embassy in London.
Hong Kong
Social worker Jackie Chen was found guilty of rioting following a retrial after the government appealed against her 2020 acquittal. Judge Chung said that Chen’s efforts to encourage police to act with restraint during a 2019 protest “clearly roused the emotions of those gathered to be more hostile to police.”
Global – Hong Kong
The CFHK Foundation’s webinar, “Hong Kong Women vs CCP Dictatorship,” was picked up by international media, including Czech Radio and Radio Free Asia.
Writing in Providence Magazine, Joseph Cella makes the case that in order to free Jimmy Lai, “the Pope and the Vatican must advocate more robustly for human rights in their dealings with China by working with U.S. government leaders like [Donald] Trump and [JD] Vance.”
UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-terrorism and Human Rights, Professor Ben Saul, reiterated his concerns about China’s national security laws and the prosecution of Jimmy Lai in an address to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Jimmy Lai Biography, ‘Troublemaker’ Updates
Mark Clifford shared insights from his biography of Jimmy Lai, “The Troublemaker,” with “Reaganism” podcast host Rachel Hoff.
Jimmy Lai Updates
On Tuesday, testimony concluded in Jimmy Lai’s sham national security trial after 146 days in court. Closing arguments will begin August 14, ensuring that his conviction and sentencing will not happen until late this year, two years after the start of a trial that was scheduled to last 80 days. August will also mark the fifth anniversary of Lai’s arrest on National Security Law charges. The Hong Kong court seems determined to prove the truth of the maxim “justice delayed is justice denied.”
Detailed trial updates are available here: Support Jimmy Lai.