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The US should not interfere in Hong Kong’s internal affairs, leader John Lee has said after American president-elect Donald Trump said it would be “so easy” to free detained media tycoon Jimmy Lai.
“If a country wants to develop trade relations or normal relations with another economy, mutual respect is important. Also, there should be respect, so there should be no interference with local, internal affairs,” Lee said during a weekly press conference when asked by a reporter about Trump’s comments on the jailed Hong Kong media tycoon.
“And also, Hong Kong attach[es] great importance to the rule of law. I urge all economies and countries to adopt that principle to develop relationships with Hong Kong,” Lee continued.
He said that Hong Kong is an important trade partner of the US, adding that there are over 1,200 American companies running offices in the city.
“As one of the most open economy in the world… we welcome normal business exchange, economy and people exchange the other countries, including the US, ” Lee said. “We hope to develop a win-win trade relationship with mutual respect, but we also adopt bottom line thinking to protect the legitimate right of Hong Kong’s interest and right of Hong Kong business.”
Before securing a sweeping victory in the US election to retake the While House, the republican billionaire Trump was briefly asked about Lai in a podcast with conservative political commentator Hugh Hewitt.
When asked if he would speak to Chinese leader Xi Jinping about “getting Jimmy Lai out [of jail] and out of the country” if elected president, Trump said “100 per cent yes.” He added that it would be “so easy” to free him.
During Trump’s first term, the US government ended Hong Kong’s special trade status and signed into law an act that authorised sanctions imposed on over China’s clampdown in Hong Kong.
Since then, the US has imposed sanctions on a number of Hong Kong officials, including on the chief executive.
Detained since 2020
Lai, 76, is the founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. He is a Hong Kong permanent resident and a British national.
Detained since 2020, he is currently on trial under the Beijing-imposed national security law over taking part in a “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” under the security legislation, and also for conspiring to publish “seditious” materials under a colonial-era law.
He could see up to life imprisonment if convicted.
The trial – which began in December 2023 – was adjourned in July and will resume next week, when he is set to testify for the first time in the proceedings.
In late 2022, Lai was sentenced to five years and nine months in jail after being convicted of fraud.
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