Arthur Liu, father of U.S. Olympic figure skating champion Alysa Liu, is urging President Donald Trump to press Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping for the release of jailed Hong Kong media founder Jimmy Lai. Writing in an op-ed published ahead of the Sept. 24 Trump-Xi summit in Washington, Liu warned about the 78-year-old publisher’s deteriorating health and pointed to a pledge Trump made during his 2024 presidential campaign.
“Unless something changes quickly, Jimmy Lai will likely die in prison,” Liu wrote. When asked by radio host Hugh Hewitt in October 2024 whether he could persuade Xi to release Lai, Trump said, “100 percent, yes.” Later in the same exchange, Trump said: “By the way, 100 percent, I’ll get him out. He’ll be easy to get out.”
Liu argued that Trump “must fulfill that promise,” adding that doing so would “fulfill the promise he made before returning to the White House and would also prevent critics from saying he was played by the CCP.”
From Tiananmen to Olympic gold
For Liu, Lai’s imprisonment carries personal significance. Liu participated in China’s 1989 pro-democracy movement before fleeing the country and eventually settling in the United States, where he became an attorney. His daughter Alysa went on to win the women’s figure skating gold medal at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
“I was fortunate: I escaped China, came to the United States, and became a lawyer. I built my life in a country where the rule of law protects individuals from the power of the state,” Liu wrote, adding, “Jimmy Lai chose a different path. He stayed, founded ‘Apple Daily,’ and dedicated himself to defending freedom and democracy in China. When Beijing gradually tightened its grip on Hong Kong, he refused to remain silent.”
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Liu said watching his daughter win Olympic gold earlier this year caused him to think more deeply about the freedoms his family found in the United States. “Earlier this year, after watching my daughter Alysa win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating, I found myself thinking more than ever about what freedom means to me.”
“Alysa’s skating in Milan embodied a kind of freedom I once could scarcely imagine–the freedom to be truly yourself, to speak out, to pursue your goals, and even the freedom to fail, without fearing that the government will decide what you may or may not think.”
He added, “Jimmy Lai represents the terrifying opposite of that idea. His case shows what happens when the state decides that speech itself is a threat.”
Lai serving 20-year sentence
Lai founded the pro-democracy newspaper “Apple Daily” in 1995 and became one of Hong Kong’s most prominent critics of Beijing. He was convicted in December 2025 on two counts of “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” and one count involving seditious publications.
In February, a Hong Kong court sentenced him to 20 years in prison, the harshest sentence imposed so far in a case under the city’s national security framework. Lai denied the charges and has described himself as a political prisoner. The term handed to Lai is “tantamount to a life sentence” for the 78-year-old media publisher, the U.K. said.
Beijing and Hong Kong authorities maintain that Lai received a fair trial and say the national security law was necessary to restore stability following the 2019 protests. Liu rejected that characterization. “Beijing and Hong Kong officials insist that his prosecution is lawful and that Hong Kong continues to operate according to the rule of law. That claim is completely at odds with the facts. A more accurate description is this: Jimmy Lai’s prosecution is punishment for journalism and political dissent.”
Concerns about Lai’s health have intensified. A Sept. 15 report from the U.S.-based Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation said that, according to a source with direct knowledge of Stanley Prison operations, guards had rehearsed procedures for the possibility that Lai could die in custody. The group said it did not know what prompted the exercise.
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