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The British son of the jailed Hong Kong media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai has criticised the UK government for failing to place conditions on his father’s release during the prime minister’s visit to China last week.

Speaking at a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday, Sebastien Lai said his father’s incarceration was not only a humanitarian and national security issue, but an issue “where our values are being locked up” along with him.

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The remarks come after the first trip to China by a UK leader in eight years, during which Keir Starmer is said to have raised the case of the former media tycoon and one of Hong Kong’s most significant pro-democracy voices.

In December 2025, Lai, a British citizen, was convicted of national security offences in December after a near two-year trial that international rights groups criticised as politically motivated and an attack on press freedom.

Weeks before the prime minister’s visit, it is understood Lai met with the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, and discussed the importance of his father’s case as well as the 78-year-old’s deteriorating health in solitary confinement.

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