This blog is authored by David Green, Head of Communications at the CFHK Foundation.
It has been a whirlwind introduction to work as the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation’s new Head of Communications in London.
Over the last few days, I’ve had the privilege of shadowing CFHK Chairman Ambassador James Cunningham as he conducted a series of high-level meetings as part of efforts to galvanise the British government into finally taking more constructive action to free Jimmy Lai.
His visit included sit downs with former Prime Minister David Cameron, former Shadow Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell, and officials at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, as well as Labour legislators like Tim Roca MP, and influential journalists.
Frustration at UK government inaction on Jimmy Lai’s case was a unifying theme across these interactions. In each one, Ambassador Cunningham carefully made the case that the UK should be bolder in its dealings with Beijing, seek safety in a position that dovetails with key allies, and recognise that economic weakness in the PRC provides leverage for negotiations.
I also witnessed impassioned speeches in parliament on behalf of political prisoners, joining Ambassador Cunningham as he testified before an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Arbitrary Detention and Hostage Affairs inquiry into Jimmy Lai’s case.
The APPG seeks to remedy UK government tardiness on hostage and arbitrarily detained prisoner negotiations by furthering advocacy for a special envoy, similar to the role Roger D. Carstens has performed for the U.S. to such commendable effect.
The hearing was my first opportunity to meet Sebastien Lai, who gave an impassioned account of his father’s achievements and plight, before diplomatically suggesting that it is time for the British government to “do the right thing” by vocally refusing to accept the “intolerable” PRC position that Jimmy Lai is not a British citizen.
I was struck by the power of Sebastien Lai’s testimony, and the passionate advocacy of those around him. In the words of the tireless Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, who leads Jimmy Lai’s international legal team: “We can all be more [like] Jimmy and stand up to bullies. He is brave. Sebastien is brave. We all have to be brave, or a British citizen will die in prison simply for standing up for the values we all care about.”
At an event we co-hosted with Blair McDougall MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong, it also became clear to me just how weak the UK government looks in comparison to international peers: Australia secured freedom for Cheng Lei; the U.S. brought Pastor David Lin home; the Irish businessman Richard O’Halloran was reunited with his family in Dublin; and, “the two Michaels”, Spavor and Kovrig, are safely back in Canada.
By contrast, the UK has so far lacked both the political will and the conceptual clarity to move the needle on Jimmy Lai. As a case in point, it was only last week that Sebastien Lai sat down with David Lammy, bringing to an end a ridiculous situation in which the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, and Ireland had all met Jimmy Lai’s son before Britain’s own Foreign Secretary.
Despite the optics of the meeting last week, I can’t help but feel concerned that the UK is drifting back into a position on PRC engagement that will leave us isolated, particularly given the perceived hawkishness of President-elect Trump’s picks for key posts in the incoming administration.
Amid rumours that Prime Minister Keir Starmer might hold a bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit in Rio next week, and that both he and Chancellor Rachel Reeves are set to visit China next year, we will be kept busy brainstorming ways that we can keep Hong Kong and Jimmy Lai’s case foremost in their thoughts.
Wouldn’t it be something if Keir Starmer, and indeed President-elect Trump, really follow through on their promises to prioritise Jimmy Lai’s case and get him out of jail?
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