Arriving in Hong Kong as a penniless 12-year-old stowaway from southern China, Jimmy Lai sought freedom and a future. He never imagined his life would become so entwined with the city he came to call home. In an interview with DW months before his December 2020 arrest, Lai said, “I’ll sink with the ship, because this place gives me everything.”
One of the first high-profile figures targeted under a national security law imposed by Beijing after the 2019 protests, Lai has since become a symbol of the shrinking space for independent journalism in Hong Kong. Authorities said the law would restore Hong Kong “from chaos to order” after mass demonstrations in 2019, but critics argue it curtailed civil liberties and press freedom.
Lai has spent nearly 2,000 days in solitary confinement at Hong Kong’s maximum-security Stanley Prison. This February, the 78-year-old was sentenced to 20 years in prison for “colluding with foreign forces” — the heaviest punishment so far under the national security law. He pleaded not guilty to all charges, but his legal team says he will not appeal. Many observers view the trial and sentence as evidence of Beijing’s broader effort to silence critical voices.
DW has recognized Lai’s defense of press freedom and freedom of speech by awarding him this year’s DW Freedom of Speech Award. Since 2015, the award has highlighted journalists and human rights defenders to draw attention to constraints on press freedom and winding human rights situations worldwide.
Sebastien Lai, Jimmy Lai’s son and longtime advocate for his release, said people who fight for freedom “are never alone” and that the award is meaningful at a time when “a lot of media in Hong Kong now are self-censoring.” He added, “I think if he knew about it [the award], he’d be very happy.” DW Director General Barbara Massing praised Lai’s “indispensable dedication to democratic values,” noting his work with Apple Daily gave journalists a platform and the democracy movement in Hong Kong a voice.
Lai was born into a wealthy family in Guangzhou but lost everything amid the upheaval of the Chinese civil war: his father fled, his mother was sent to a labor camp. After tasting a piece of chocolate he believed came from a better world, the 12-year-old stowed away on a fishing boat for British Hong Kong. Starting with nothing, he became a textile tycoon with the clothing brand Giordano, founded in 1981.
The 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre was a turning point for Lai. Concerned about Hong Kong’s future before the 1997 handover, he decided someone with means needed to defend the city’s freedoms. He moved into media, founding Next Magazine and later Apple Daily. His outlets combined tabloid-style coverage with investigative reporting and became known for exposing scandals and criticizing government policies. They were hugely popular despite criticism for sensationalism.
Lai became one of Beijing’s most outspoken critics and personally joined the 2014 Umbrella Movement and the 2019 anti-extradition bill protests. After the national security law took effect in 2020, Lai was arrested and Apple Daily ceased operations in 2021. Several independent media outlets in Hong Kong subsequently shut down amid the contracting space for press freedom.
In its judgment, the court described Lai as harboring a “rabid hatred” for the Chinese Communist Party and accused him of using Apple Daily and his influence to orchestrate campaigns aimed at undermining the CCP and the Hong Kong government. Lai, who holds British citizenship, was found guilty under the national security law last December.
Family and supporters are deeply worried about Lai’s health. Sebastien said a 20-year sentence is “a death sentence” and described concerns about the 78-year-old’s diabetes, 10-kilogram weight loss over the past year, nail shedding and decaying teeth. Sebastien has not seen his father in five years and can only correspond by mail; he says he cannot return to Hong Kong for safety reasons and fears Lai may die in prison. Mark Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong and a former Apple Daily board member, warned that Lai dying in custody would be a “disaster” for the CCP and compared the risk to the death in custody of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo in 2017.
Prosecutors, citing medical reports, say Lai is in “stable” condition and rejected claims of deteriorating health, adding he has been held in solitary at his own request for security reasons.
US President Donald Trump in 2025 said he had asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping to “consider” releasing Lai, and he is again expected to meet Xi soon. Sebastien expressed hope Trump might intervene, citing what he described as Trump’s “incredible track record of getting people out of prison,” but he said it is hard to imagine what life would be like if his father were released. “Even just sitting at our dining table and cooking something and all of the family eating together. I think that’s what I look forward to the most.”
DW’s East Asia correspondent Rik Glauert also contributed to this report.