December 23, 2025
President Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW,
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
We write as Hong Kong community organizations in the United States and international NGOs to urge you to take strong, concrete steps in response to the recent guilty verdict against Jimmy Lai and the continued imprisonment of six other Apple Daily executives in Hong Kong.
Last week, Mr. Lai was convicted of “colluding with foreign forces” and “conspiracy to publish seditious materials” based on his journalism, peaceful advocacy, and ordinary engagement with U.S. and other government officials as a publisher and businessman. The 855-page judgment cites interactions with you, officials in your administration, and Members of Congress as evidence of “foreign collusion.” Your name appears 197 times, and there are numerous other mentions of interactions with U.S. officials and Members of Congress. These meetings and communications are being used as reasons to persecute and jail Mr. Lai. No one should be jailed for merely talking to U.S. government officials, and strong actions are needed to show the Chinese and Hong Kong governments that this will not be tolerated in the U.S.- China relationship.
Mr. Lai is a 78-year-old entrepreneur and founder of Apple Daily, a pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong that the Hong Kong government shuttered in 2021. Now, after more than five years in detention, he is in fragile health, and he faces a sentence of up to life imprisonment. Reports from those close to him describe serious concerns about his physical condition following prolonged solitary confinement. We know time is running out.
You are in a unique position as President of the United States and as a leader who understands power, leverage, and the importance of American economic interests. Beijing and Hong Kong authorities care deeply about access to U.S. markets and investment, as well as high‑level access to you and your administration.
We respectfully ask that you use that leverage to secure Jimmy Lai’s immediate release on humanitarian grounds, along with the release of the detained Apple Daily executives and other political prisoners in Hong Kong. To that end, we urge you to take the following actions:
- Make Jimmy Lai’s immediate humanitarian release and meaningful steps on freeing political prisoners in Hong Kong key elements of any planned presidential visit or major high‑level engagement with Beijing in 2026.
- Impose targeted sanctions on the three national security judges in this case—Esther Toh, Alex Lee, and Susana D’Almada Remedios—along with the prosecutors and Hong Kong and Chinese officials responsible for implementing the political prosecution of Jimmy Lai.
- Announce a formal review to assess the privileges and immunities enjoyed by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in the United States that were granted in the 1990s, when Hong Kong was determined to be autonomous from the PRC.
This is a moment where American strength can be used to defend free societies from coercion and signal that Hong Kong’s courts cannot be used to punish advocates and prevent engagement with the United States.
We believe you have the power to turn this situation into an agreement that saves a man’s life and proves that when America and its values are challenged, it responds from a position of strength. The people of Hong Kong—and many around the world—will remember if you choose to act.
Respectfully,
U.S.-based Hong Kong Organizations
1. Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation
2. Chicago Solidarity with Hong Kong
3. HKERS Care Team
4. Hong Kong Affairs Association of Berkeley (HKAAB)
5. Hong Kong Democracy Council
6. Hong Kong Forum, Los Angeles
7. Hong Kongers in San Diego
8. Hong Kongers in San Francisco Bay Area
9. HongKonger Community Center
10. JF Books
11. KONGcentric
12. Lamp of Liberty
13. Lion Rock Café
14. New Yorkers Supporting Hong Kong (NY4HK)
15. Northern California Hong Kong Club
16. NYC852HKER
17. SEArious For HKG
18. Texans Supporting Hong Kong – TX4HK
19. US Hongkongers Club
20. We The Hongkongers
Non-U.S. Hong Kong Organizations
21. Assembly of Citizens’ Representatives, Hong Kong (ACRHK)
22. Australia Hong Kong Link
23. Bonham Tree Aid CIC
24. Canada-Hong Kong Link
25. Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong
26. Hong Kong Committee in Norway
27. Hong Kong Human Rights Front
28. Hong Kong Outlanders in Taiwan
29. Hong Kong Watch
30. Hongkonger in Deutschland e.V.
31. Hongkongers in Britain (HKB)
32. Re-Water
33. The Hong Kong Scots
34. Hong Kong Society in Scotland
35. Scottish Hongkongers
36. Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement (VSSDM)
Allied Diaspora and International Human Rights Organizations
37. Alliance for Citizens Rights
38. ARTICLE 19
39. Bay Area Friends of Tibet
40. China Rights in Action
41. ChinaAid
42. Doublethink Lab
43. Fortify Rights
44. Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities
45. Human Rights Foundation (HRF)
46. Index on Censorship
47. International Tibet Network
48. PEN America
49. Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
50. Santa Barbara Fruends of Tibet
51. Save Tibet, Austria
52. The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the USA
53. Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation