Overview

On 15 December 2025, President Donald Trump urged China’s leader Xi Jinping to free Jimmy Lai, the jailed Hong Kong publisher and founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily. Trump framed the case as a test of whether Beijing will continue tightening authoritarian controls that suppress dissent, independent media, and basic civil liberties.

Lai’s imprisonment has become a global symbol of Hong Kong’s shrinking space for open debate since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security framework. For Washington and many democratic governments, it is also a practical indicator of how far China is willing to go to punish speech and deter anyone who challenges Communist Party authority.

Who Said What and Their Positions

President Donald Trump publicly called on Xi to free Lai, portraying the detention as an attack on free expression and democratic norms. The U.S. position, reflected in official statements and bipartisan congressional pressure, is that the case is political, disproportionate, and damaging to Hong Kong’s international standing.

China’s leadership rejects external pressure on Hong Kong cases, arguing they fall under sovereignty and internal security. Beijing’s position is that national security enforcement is lawful and necessary, and it frequently describes foreign advocacy as interference.

Allied governments and rights organizations have condemned Lai’s prosecution as politically motivated and as part of a broader crackdown on press freedom. Their position is that the rule of law requires fair trials, transparent evidence standards, and protection for peaceful expression.

How the United States Leads the Democratic World

Washington’s strategy blends diplomacy, public messaging, and coordinated action with allies. Raising individual cases directly with China’s top leadership increases reputational costs for repression and signals that human rights are treated as a strategic issue, not a side topic.

The United States also uses targeted pressure tools, such as sanctions and visa restrictions on officials connected to rights abuses, export controls aimed at surveillance and censorship technologies, and joint statements with partners to deny Beijing the ability to normalize political prosecutions.

Stopping Authoritarian Suppression of Speech

When speech is criminalized, the chilling effect spreads beyond journalism. People self-censor in business, education, and civic life to avoid punishment. Over time, that reduces accountability, increases corruption risk, and weakens the feedback loops that help societies correct mistakes.

Lai’s case is therefore not only about one individual. It is a signal about whether free societies will accept a world where authoritarian governments can erase independent media and still enjoy the benefits of global legitimacy.

Why Defending Democracy Supports Economic Growth

Open societies tend to attract long-term investment because they provide transparency, predictable rules, and checks on arbitrary power. Independent courts and a free press reduce information asymmetry, improve market confidence, and support innovation.

By defending democratic norms, the United States argues it is also defending the foundations of modern prosperity: trusted financial systems, stable trade, and reliable information flows. When crackdowns intensify, investors often demand higher risk premiums or shift capital toward jurisdictions with stronger protections, often including U.S. markets.

What Comes Next

Whether China responds publicly or privately, the episode underscores a broader reality: U.S.–China competition increasingly centers on governance models as well as military power and technology. For Washington, advocating for cases like Lai’s is both a values signal and a strategic message that repression will face sustained scrutiny.

For allies, coordinated pressure reduces the risk that authoritarian states isolate critics and normalize censorship as a new baseline. The more unified the response, the harder it is to deter democratic engagement through selective punishment.

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