Megan Khoo: Starmer must answer for Jimmy Lai
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.
Megan Khoo is Policy Director of Hong Kong Watch
This week British citizen Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong. At 78 years old, held in prolonged solitary confinement and with deteriorating health, Lai will most likely die in prison.
In the lead-up to his conviction and sentencing, time was of the essence. Yet Prime Minister Keir Starmer paid little more than lip service to the fate of Jimmy Lai during his visit to China this month. Sebastien Lai, Jimmy Lai’s son, criticised the Prime Minister for failing to place conditions on his father’s release in negotiations with Xi Jinping. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch likewise described the trip as a failure, given that the Prime Minister was unable to secure the release of one of his own citizens.
The visit to China also immediately followed the UK government’s approval of plans for a Chinese mega embassy in the heart of London. Despite mass protests and seven years of objections over security risks and concerns about espionage, the Labour government approved the development. This decision was widely seen as paving the path for Keir Starmer’s trip to Beijing.
Local residents near the proposed site have since launched a judicial challenge that could ultimately reach the Supreme Court and delay construction for up to five years. The government should take this challenge seriously and reconsider a decision that risks enabling transnational repression and endangering Hong Kongers and other dissidents living in Britain.
On X, Keir Starmer showcased his China visit and claimed to have secured billions of pounds in investment deals to support the British economy, yet made no mention of Jimmy Lai. Following Lai’s sentencing, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper released a statement expressing concern for his health and called on the Hong Kong government “to end [Lai’s] appalling ordeal and release him on humanitarian grounds, so that he may be reunited with his family”. The Foreign Secretary also reiterated that the Prime Minister raised Lai’s case with Xi Jinping and promised to “rapidly engage further” on the matter. That engagement must be more than rhetorical. It should involve concrete conditions and sustained pressure, led directly by the Prime Minister, to secure Lai’s release.
In response to Lai’s sentencing, the Home Office also announced an expansion of the British National (Overseas) (BNO) visa scheme to include Hong Kongers who were under 18 at the time of the 1997 handover. The government estimates that up to 26,000 people may relocate to the UK through this route over the next five years, helping to uphold Britain’s commitments to Hong Kongers. This long-awaited change, championed by Hong Kong Watch and others, is most welcome. It closes a significant gap that left …
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.
Megan Khoo is Policy Director of Hong Kong Watch
This week British citizen Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong. At 78 years old, held in prolonged solitary confinement and with deteriorating health, Lai will most likely die in prison.
In the lead-up to his conviction and sentencing, time was of the essence. Yet Prime Minister Keir Starmer paid little more than lip service to the fate of Jimmy Lai during his visit to China this month. Sebastien Lai, Jimmy Lai’s son, criticised the Prime Minister for failing to place conditions on his father’s release in negotiations with Xi Jinping. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch likewise described the trip as a failure, given that the Prime Minister was unable to secure the release of one of his own citizens.
The visit to China also immediately followed the UK government’s approval of plans for a Chinese mega embassy in the heart of London. Despite mass protests and seven years of objections over security risks and concerns about espionage, the Labour government approved the development. This decision was widely seen as paving the path for Keir Starmer’s trip to Beijing.
Local residents near the proposed site have since launched a judicial challenge that could ultimately reach the Supreme Court and delay construction for up to five years. The government should take this challenge seriously and reconsider a decision that risks enabling transnational repression and endangering Hong Kongers and other dissidents living in Britain.
On X, Keir Starmer showcased his China visit and claimed to have secured billions of pounds in investment deals to support the British economy, yet made no mention of Jimmy Lai. Following Lai’s sentencing, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper released a statement expressing concern for his health and called on the Hong Kong government “to end [Lai’s] appalling ordeal and release him on humanitarian grounds, so that he may be reunited with his family”. The Foreign Secretary also reiterated that the Prime Minister raised Lai’s case with Xi Jinping and promised to “rapidly engage further” on the matter. That engagement must be more than rhetorical. It should involve concrete conditions and sustained pressure, led directly by the Prime Minister, to secure Lai’s release.
In response to Lai’s sentencing, the Home Office also announced an expansion of the British National (Overseas) (BNO) visa scheme to include Hong Kongers who were under 18 at the time of the 1997 handover. The government estimates that up to 26,000 people may relocate to the UK through this route over the next five years, helping to uphold Britain’s commitments to Hong Kongers. This long-awaited change, championed by Hong Kong Watch and others, is most welcome. It closes a significant gap that left …
Megan Khoo: Starmer must answer for Jimmy Lai
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.
Megan Khoo is Policy Director of Hong Kong Watch
This week British citizen Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong. At 78 years old, held in prolonged solitary confinement and with deteriorating health, Lai will most likely die in prison.
In the lead-up to his conviction and sentencing, time was of the essence. Yet Prime Minister Keir Starmer paid little more than lip service to the fate of Jimmy Lai during his visit to China this month. Sebastien Lai, Jimmy Lai’s son, criticised the Prime Minister for failing to place conditions on his father’s release in negotiations with Xi Jinping. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch likewise described the trip as a failure, given that the Prime Minister was unable to secure the release of one of his own citizens.
The visit to China also immediately followed the UK government’s approval of plans for a Chinese mega embassy in the heart of London. Despite mass protests and seven years of objections over security risks and concerns about espionage, the Labour government approved the development. This decision was widely seen as paving the path for Keir Starmer’s trip to Beijing.
Local residents near the proposed site have since launched a judicial challenge that could ultimately reach the Supreme Court and delay construction for up to five years. The government should take this challenge seriously and reconsider a decision that risks enabling transnational repression and endangering Hong Kongers and other dissidents living in Britain.
On X, Keir Starmer showcased his China visit and claimed to have secured billions of pounds in investment deals to support the British economy, yet made no mention of Jimmy Lai. Following Lai’s sentencing, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper released a statement expressing concern for his health and called on the Hong Kong government “to end [Lai’s] appalling ordeal and release him on humanitarian grounds, so that he may be reunited with his family”. The Foreign Secretary also reiterated that the Prime Minister raised Lai’s case with Xi Jinping and promised to “rapidly engage further” on the matter. That engagement must be more than rhetorical. It should involve concrete conditions and sustained pressure, led directly by the Prime Minister, to secure Lai’s release.
In response to Lai’s sentencing, the Home Office also announced an expansion of the British National (Overseas) (BNO) visa scheme to include Hong Kongers who were under 18 at the time of the 1997 handover. The government estimates that up to 26,000 people may relocate to the UK through this route over the next five years, helping to uphold Britain’s commitments to Hong Kongers. This long-awaited change, championed by Hong Kong Watch and others, is most welcome. It closes a significant gap that left …
