Foreign Secretary Parliamentary Statement on Jimmy Lai
Foreign Secretary statement on Jimmy Lai delivered to Parliament on 15 December 2025.
Thank you Madame Deputy Speaker. With permission, can I first address the horrific attack that took place yesterday at Bondi Beach in Sydney.
Across the UK and across the world, people have been shocked and appalled by this vile, antisemitic terrorist attack targeting Jewish families who were celebrating on the beach on the first day of Chanukah.
New South Wales Authorities have confirmed that 15 people have been killed, in addition to one of the two gunmen, and 27 people remain in hospital. It is a devastating loss of life – including a Holocaust survivor and a little girl just 10 years old.
It has also now been confirmed that one of the victims of the Bondi attack was a British national, bringing this tragedy even closer to home. And we have offered support to the family following their tragic loss.
I have offered my Australian counterpart, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, the United Kingdom’s full support in their response. And the Prime Minister and His Majesty the King have both shared their condolences.
Chanukah should be a time of celebration and joy. And yet Jewish people are again confronted with vile acts of hatred simply for being Jews. With further distress for our British Jewish communities just two months after the Manchester synagogue attack on Yom Kippur.
So we stand in solidarity with Australia’s Jewish communities, with Jewish communities here and across the world as they continue to mark Chanukah and we stand in solidarity with the Australian people.
Our thoughts are with all those affected. We must continue and increase work to root out antisemitism in all its forms, here and abroad because we will never let hatred win.
With permission, Madame Deputy Speaker, I will now turn to today’s verdict in the trial of Jimmy Lai.
Today, Hong Kong’s courts ruled that Jimmy Lai was guilty of foreign collusion under the National Security Law, which Beijing imposed on the city five years ago. They also found him guilty of conspiring to publish seditious materials.
Jimmy Lai is a British citizen. He has been targeted by the Chinese and Hong Kong governments for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. This was a politically motivated prosecution which I strongly condemn.
Jimmy Lai now faces the prospect of a sentence which, for a man of 78 years, could mean the rest of his life in prison. I call again for Jimmy Lai’s immediate release.
On my instruction, the Foreign Office has today summoned the Chinese Ambassador to underline our position in the strongest terms. My Acting Consul General was present at court to bear witness today.
And for many in this House – and for the large diaspora community living in the UK – it is heartbreaking that such a violation of a British man’s rights could occur in Hong Kong. Because the Hong Kong of Jimmy Lai’s childhood was a city where a twelve-year-old boy seeking opportunity could go on to build a business empire, then a media platform.
It was a city of freedom. And that freedom brought great prosperity. So when the Joint Declaration was signed by the United Kingdom and China in 1984, both nations declared their commitment to that prosperity.
And our countries agreed that Hong Kong’s uniqueness was the foundation of its success. Its high degree of autonomy. Its executive, legislative, and independent judicial power. Its rights and freedoms, including of speech, of the press, of assembly and of association.
And these were to be enshrined in law.
For many years, Hong Kong was the embodiment of the commitments made in that Joint Declaration. The city, the economy, and most importantly the people thrived.
And it was a remarkable, shining example to the world of what Hong Kong’s people and cooperation between the UK and China could achieve. And indeed, it is partly because of our important economic as well as our political history with Hong Kong that China remains our third largest trading partner today.
But in 2020, China began to break commitments in that Declaration. Hong Kong’s free media spoke out and they were punished for it. In June 2020, China breached the Joint Declaration by imposing its National Security Law on the city. A law imposed on Hong Kong to silence China’s critics. A law that undermined Hong Kong’s autonomy and threatened the rights that China had once freely committed to upholding.
And it was not long before the new law was applied. Jimmy Lai was arrested, along with other advocates of democracy, free speech and freedom of assembly. This British citizen, this businessman and journalist, this father, husband and grandfather, has endured five years of incarceration. Meanwhile, his supporters around the world have campaigned tirelessly for justice.
I pay particular tribute to Jimmy’s son, Sebastien Lai who has endured such pain and shown such determination and dignity in fighting for his father and for the wider rights and principles at stake.
I know many Honourable colleagues have had the privilege of meeting this determined man who has endured so much to take on his father’s mantle, speaking up where his father cannot.
The Government has continually and repeatedly raised Jimmy Lai’s case with China at every opportunity – urging the authorities to agree to his release. Yet the Hong Kong authorities continue to refuse us consular access to our citizen. For a 78-year-old man whose health is suffering.
So Jimmy Lai remains imprisoned despite international calls for his release and concerns regarding his health. Imprisoned despite UK Ministers raising our concerns directly and privately with Hong Kong and Chinese officials. And imprisoned despite our repeated requests for consular access, the most recent of which was submitted on Thursday.
So, once again I call for Jimmy Lai to be granted full access to independent medical professionals to assess his health and ensure he receives adequate treatment.
Today’s verdict is sadly not a surprise. But no state can bully and persecute the British people for exercising their basic rights.
We have seen how the Hong Kong authorities have tried to use the National Security Law to target even those living on British soil for speaking up. The UK has repeatedly called for the National Security Law to be repealed and for an end to the prosecution of all individuals charged under it.
And it remains imperative that the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities end the deliberate targeting of opposition voices through arrest warrants and bounties in the UK and elsewhere.
The safety of the Hong Kong community in the UK is a top priority for this government. And as the Prime Minister recently said, protecting our security is non-negotiable. It is our first duty.
This government is unequivocally clear that China poses a series of national security threats to the United Kingdom. And that is why we have taken further steps and tougher measures to defend our democracy by disrupting and deterring threats from China and other state actors.
Including upgrading sovereign technology, removing Chinese made surveillance equipment from sensitive sites. Drawing up new legislation to tackle state threats modelled on counter terrorism powers. Rolling out new training to police forces across the country on tackling state threats and protecting individuals from transnational repression.
And continuing to support the Hong Kong British National Overseas route which has welcomed over 200,000 Hong Kongers to the UK. And where the Home Office has confirmed as part of the Earned Settlement consultation, they will retain a five-year settlement route in the UK.
China has not upheld its commitments to the people of Hong Kong. But we will. Jimmy Lai chose to remain in Hong Kong to speak up for what was right. He is currently paying the price.
But for the sake of Jimmy Lai, for his family, but also for the people of Hong Kong, for the joint Declaration we signed, and for the rule of law, we will not relent on this. Joined by nations across the world, we call again for the immediate release of Jimmy Lai.
I commend this statement to the House.