Who is Jimmy Lai, the Hong-Kong activist Trump wants released from jail

US President Donald Trump has extended his voice and support for jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai. According to a report in Reuters, the president said he would likely raise the issue of releasing the founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily.

“It's on my list. I'm going to ask ... We'll see what happens,” he told reporters, Reuters reported. The media mogul was arrested in August 2020 and is serving a prison sentence in Hong Kong under Beijing-imposed national security laws.

Trump has renewed his promise to ‘save’ Lai, who is on trial for alleged national security crimes, saying, “I’m going to do everything I can to save him. I’m going to do everything. His name has already entered the circle of things that we’re talking about, and we’ll see what we can do,”

Trump told Fox News Radio in the US.

Who is Jimmy Lai?

Jimmy Lai, 77, is a Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy activist jailed since 2020. Born in China in 1947, Lai fled to Hong Kong as a child in the 1950s and built a business empire, including the now-shuttered pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily.

Lai was known for his criticism of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and his support for Hong Kong's democracy movement. He was one of the few members of Hong Kong's business elite to speak out against the CCP, which took control of Hong Kong in 1997.

His activism made him a target for prosecution, according to Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in the United Kingdom.

Speaking with Al Jazeera, he said, “From Beijing’s perspective, Jimmy Lai stands out as he is the highest profile and [most] persistent tycoon who used his fortune to support the democracy movement in Hong Kong, and thus challenges the authority of the CCP.”

He further stated, “To them, this makes Lai a traitor who must be severely punished.” The Chinese government feels that he must be reprimanded in a “high-profile way to scare others from following the same path.”

The 77-year-old faces two counts of ‘colluding with foreign forces’ and one count of sedition. If found guilty, he could face life imprisonment.