Starmer urged to bring ‘arbitrarily detained’ British citizen Jimmy Lai back to UK from China trip
.png?trim=0,29,0,171&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800&w=780&resize=780,470&ssl=1 "Starmer urged to bring ‘arbitrarily detained’ British citizen Jimmy Lai back to UK from China trip")
Sir Kier Starmer has been called on to secure the release of a British national “arbitrarily detained” in Hong Kong.
A cross-party group of MPs has called on Starmer to bring 78-year-old Jimmy Lai back to the UK at the end of his trip to China.
Mr. Lai, a prominent pro-democracy advocate and founder of the defunct Apple Daily newspaper, has been detained for more than five years since his arrest in 2020.
He spent significant periods in solitary confinement.
In a letter sent to the Prime Minister during his trip to China, a cross-party group of MPs said: “We hope that one of the conditions of your visit is that you bring Jimmy Lai home.”
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Arbitrary Detention and Hostage Affairs also said: “Following his unsound and politically motivated conviction, Jimmy is likely to receive a very long prison sentence and possibly a life sentence if he remains arbitrarily detained by the Chinese Communist Party.
“This would be a virtual death sentence for him, given his age and his health, which has worsened due to mistreatment. After more than 1,800 days in solitary confinement, his health is rapidly deteriorating and his life is now at risk.”
Sir Keir’s visit to China focused on building closer economic ties with the East Asian trading giant, following a period of tense communications between Beijing and London in the final years of the previous Conservative government.
Negotiations so far have resulted in a 30-day visa-free deal for Britons traveling to China, as well as the easing of tariffs on whiskey exports.
However, the APPG warned that “the United Kingdom’s bilateral and trade relations with China should not be advanced without taking into account the life of a British citizen imprisoned for defending democratic values.”
The group’s letter was signed by its deputy leader, Tory shadow minister Alicia Kearns, as well as its deputies: Shaws’ Labor MP Baroness Helena Kennedy, SNP MP Brendan O’Hara and Labor MP Tim Roca.
Sir Keir said he had a “respectful discussion” about Mr Lai’s detention and the treatment of the Uyghur minority when he met Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Prime Minister said: “As you would expect, we have raised these issues.
“One of the reasons for participating is to ensure that we can both take advantage of available opportunities (which we have done) and have a mature discussion about issues on which we disagree.”
