Be wary of China: jailed Hong Kong mogul Jimmy Lai’s son

A closer relationship with China should come with an appreciation of how it ‘thinks about the freedoms that you have here and what freedoms you deserve’, cautions Sebastien Lai.

Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, Sebastien Lai and Jennifer Robinson in Sydney on Friday. Picture: John Feder

A closer relationship with China should come with an appreciation of how it “thinks about the freedoms that you have here and what freedoms you deserve”, the son of imprisoned Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai has cautioned, as he calls on the Australian government to stand with the US and the UK in urging his father’s immediate release.

Sebastien Lai, when asked if Australia was taking a China threat seriously enough, said “people are waking up to the threat of the Chinese Communist Party” – noting “Chinese secret police stations” in Australia and “Chinese students … being targeted back home in China for the views held here (in Australia)”.

On Australian journalist Cheng Lei’s treatment by Chinese officials during Premier Li Qiang’s visit earlier this month, he said: “Australia should be very clear that not an ounce of Australian dignity and the freedoms we have in this country are up for trade.”

Sebastien has not seen his father in more than three years.

Imprisoned pro-democracy activist and Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai. Picture: AFP

Lai, now aged 76, has been imprisoned, mainly in solitary confinement, in Hong Kong since December 2020 over his involvement in Hong Kong’s democracy movement.

He founded the pro-democracy paper Apple Daily, once the largest Chinese language newspaper in the country, which was confiscated without due legal process by Hong Kong authorities in 2021.

“Because of what I do now, I can’t really go back. So long story short, I don’t really know (how he is).

“Last time I saw him was in a picture … of him exercising. It’s a weird moment – it was the first time I had seen him in two years then, he was skinnier, and flanked by two guards, but it’s still him.

“He’s 76 now so at that age it’s just basic biology that he’s fighting with. But he knows he’s doing the right thing. And I think that’s keeping him strong.”

He said Australia should be watching Hong Kong carefully – because Hong Kong “has always been a litmus test of how China considers the liberties we have here”.

“Now if you want a closer relationship with China, or any relationship, indeed, it is good to know about how they think about the freedoms that you have here and what freedoms you deserve.

“My father’s story is the of a man who has essentially sacrificed everything that he has to stand up for the freedoms we have in Australia.”

Jennifer Robinson, one of Jimmy’s lawyers, who just secured the release of long-time client Julian Assange, said that the Australian Government had a role to play in the release of Jimmy Lai, despite him not being an Australian citizen.

“Australia can play a role. First, as a matter of principal – the free speech issues concerned in this case. The Australian government can and should be standing up for cases like this around the world. Jimmy’s been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his pro-democracy campaigning and the persecution he has suffered. That is reason alone should take a considered stand,” she said.

“We’ve seen Australia be able to negotiate the release of Cheng Lei, this is significant, in terms of showing Australia’s diplomatic relationship with China and what’s possible and so I think that Australia could play a pivotal role in assisting the resolution of this case.”

Yet lead counsel Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, said Australia has “a lot of self-interest” in standing up to China here.

“What’s happened with Apple Daily is there’s been state-sponsored theft of a hugely successful business, and because of Jimmy Lai’s opinions. And actually, every single investor or business person operating in Australia is at risk,” she said.

“And issue two, there’s 86,000 people from Hong Kong who’ve made Australia their home, and who deeply care about these issues, and should have their government standing up for them.

“And issue three, we’ve seen in recent weeks a number of examples of Australians being targeted by precisely these laws that Sebastian’s campaigning against.”

Sebastien’s father was a big supporter of a Trump presidency in 2020, and while he doesn’t know whether his father would support Trump’s re-election, he said: “If you ask most Americans, no matter whether they love Trump or hate Trump, most of them would agree with Trumps’s China policy.”