Trump says he hopes to ‘save’ Hong Kong democrat Jimmy Lai

Democracy advocate Jimmy Lai leaves the Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. The court on Tuesday denied bail for government critic and newspaper publisher Lai who is facing charges under a sweeping new national security law. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would see what he could do to help “save” detained Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, even though Chinese President Xi Jinping would not be “thrilled.”

“I’m going to do everything I can to save him,” Trump told Fox News Radio in an interview. “We’ll see what we can do ... we’re going to do everything we can.”

Lai, 77, has pleaded not guilty to charges under Hong Kong’s national security law of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, as well as to a separate charge of conspiracy to publish seditious material. He has been held in solitary confinement for more than 1,500 days since December 2020.

Liu Pengyu, the spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, said Lai had been “a key orchestrator and participant in anti-China, destabilizing activities in Hong Kong.”

“We strongly oppose external forces using judicial cases as a pretext to interfere in China’s internal affairs or to smear and undermine Hong Kong’s rule of law,” he said.

Trump has said he would raise Lai’s case as part of negotiations with China over trade and tariffs.

On Monday, the U.S. and China extended a tariff truce for another 90 days, staving off triple-digit duties on each other’s goods. On Tuesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said trade officials from the two sides will meet again within the next two or three months to discuss the future of the economic relationship.

Reporting by Steve Holland, Nandita Bose, Susan Heavey and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Daniel Wallis.