(15 Dec 2025)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER:4624455
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington – 15 December 2025
1. Wide of ‘Free Jimmy Lai’ stickers, posters and shirts
++COVERED++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Claire Lai, Daughter of Jimmy Lai:
“You know, it's like as much as you can expect that kind of verdict obviously when I saw it, I was, you know, I was I was grieving."
3. ‘Free Jimmy Lai’ sign on table
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Claire Lai, Daughter of Jimmy Lai:
“So much of the things that they used in the trial, they used the term the legal fiction of a conspiracy to pull out things from 2017, 2018, 2019, things that were perfectly legal then. He was operating on perfectly legal grounds when he did those things, they were legal and then it was used in the trial and made into a conspiracy to make it illegal. My father is not a man who goes out and trade republic does illegal things. My father did things, did things legally.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hong Kong – 1 July 2020
5. STILL of media mogul Jimmy Lai during interview (ID: 24032635334493)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington – 15 December 2025
++COVERED++
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Claire Lai, Daughter of Jimmy Lai:
“I mean there is just such a myriad of hotel health issues that he's facing and he's 78. I mean we are extremely, extremely worried about him.”
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Claire Lai, Daughter of Jimmy Lai:
“Across the political spectrum, we have been met with such, such kindness and such grace and just such generosity and I think that is extremely humbling and I'm extremely grateful for it.”
STORYLINE:
If released, Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy former Hong Kong media mogul who has come to symbolize defiance to Beijing, would devote himself to God and his family, rather than political activism, said his daughter Claire Lai, who has been visiting Washington to rally support to secure her father's freedom.
On Monday, the elderly Lai, 78, was convicted in Hong Kong in a landmark national security case stemming from his political advocacy and now he faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in jail, drawing condemnations from U.S. lawmakers and rights groups.
Following the verdict, his daughter made an appeal for Lai's release, saying the elderly is unlikely to be political if released.
“He wants to dedicate his life to serving our Lord, and he wants to dedicate the rest of his days to his family,” said Claire Lai, who was wearing a green cross pendant. “My father," she said, “is fundamentally not a man who operates on illegal ground.”
The words, echoing her earlier writing that her father's “crusading days are over”, come as the legal process is nearing the end, paving way for a possible diplomatic solution that may hinge on Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his counterparts, especially President Donald Trump.
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