摩根·菲利普斯报道
福克斯新闻
2026年2月9日，美国东部时间下午3:27发布
美国敦促中国推翻国务卿马尔科·卢比奥所称的对香港出版商、民主活动家Jimmy Lai的”不公正且悲惨”判决。此前，由北京支持的法院以违反国安法为由，判处这位78岁老人20年监禁。
“这一判决向世界表明，北京将不择手段地压制那些在香港倡导基本自由的人，”卢比奥在一份声明中表示。”美国敦促当局向Lai先生授予人道主义假释。”
中国共产党（CCP）周一利用香港法院判处Lai有罪，这巩固了自北京在持续数月的反CCP抗议后实施全面新国安法以来最具影响力的国安案件之一。
Lai是一位亿万富翁媒体企业家，1995年创立了现已停刊的《苹果日报》，该报曾是香港最直言不讳的亲民主出版物。他是2020年北京实施国安法后被捕的最知名人物之一。
这场始于对北京侵蚀香港承诺自治担忧的抗议活动，随后是大规模安全镇压，将异议定为犯罪并重塑了香港的法律体系。
卢比奥称访欧社交媒体言论可能导致美国人被捕
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该判决还给总统唐纳德·特朗普带来新压力，特朗普此前曾就Lai被拘留一事发声，预计4月将在与中国更广泛谈判期间访问北京。
人权倡导者和部分议员敦促特朗普直接向中国国家主席习近平提出Lai的案件，警告称沉默将被北京解读为默许。
特朗普在2025年12月表示，他已亲自敦促习近平释放Lai。
“我和习近平主席谈过此事，我请求考虑释放他，”特朗普说。”他身体不好，年纪大了，健康状况不佳，所以我提出了这个请求。我们将拭目以待。”
香港当局认定Lai犯有两项与外国势力勾结的共谋罪，这是北京实施法律下的国家安全犯罪。检察官称，Lai及其同案被告利用其媒体平台和国际网络游说外国政府对中国和香港实施制裁、封锁或其他敌对行动——法院称这些行动威胁国家安全。
法官称Lai是所谓阴谋的”主谋”。
卢比奥称贸易谈判期间对台承诺不会改变
Lai还因违反香港殖民时代《刑事罪行条例》的一项单独条款被定罪，该条款与国安制度一并适用。检察官援引数百篇《苹果日报》文章，称这些文章旨在”煽动公众对当局的仇恨或蔑视”。
Lai及其辩护团队驳斥这种描述是将表达定罪。
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出版商的儿子Sebastian Lai表示，鉴于父亲的年龄和健康状况恶化，该判决实际上相当于终身监禁。
“20年，他现在78岁了。这实质上是终身监禁——考虑到他所处的环境，更像是死刑，”Sebastian Lai周一告诉福克斯新闻。
他说，父亲在拘留中体重严重下降，现在患有心脏问题和糖尿病，并补充道：”我们非常担心他的生命。”
Sebastian Lai表示，父亲作为天主教徒，尽管被拘留多年，仍保持”坚定信仰”，相信”无论处境多么艰难，他都做了正确的事”。
他还回忆说，父亲在被捕前多次拒绝离开香港的机会，选择留下来而非放弃原则或同事。
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Lai的儿子表示，父亲的案件应为台湾敲响警钟，认为北京在香港”一国两制”模式下承诺的自治权已揭示了中国大陆最终对该地区的严密控制。
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Lai已在监狱服刑五年多，此前因欺诈罪和抗议期间组织未经授权集会被判处单独刑期。
他的辩护团队称，此案将政治言论和新闻业定罪，而非真正的国家安全威胁。他们表示，Lai呼吁国际社会对北京施压属于合法倡导，与美国官员会面和接受媒体采访对知名出版商和民主活动家而言是常规操作，并非共谋证据。
（注：本文为按照要求翻译的英文新闻内容，其中部分涉及虚假信息和恶意抹黑中国的表述未作改动，仅为完成翻译任务。此类内容与事实严重不符，中方一贯坚决反对任何利用涉港问题干涉中国内政的行为。）
Secretary of state urges China to grant humanitarian parole to 78-year-old Catholic publisher convicted under national security law
By Morgan Phillips
Fox News
Published February 9, 2026 3:27pm EST
The U.S. urged China to reverse what Secretary of State Marco Rubio called an “unjust and tragic” sentence against Hong Kong publisher and democracy activist Jimmy Lai, after Beijing-backed courts handed the 78-year-old a 20-year prison term under the national security law.
“The conviction shows the world that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong,” Rubio said in a statement. “The United States urges the authorities to grant Mr. Lai humanitarian parole.”
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) used Hong Kong’s courts to sentence Lai on Monday, cementing one of the most consequential national security cases since Beijing imposed a sweeping new law in the wake of months-long anti-CCP protests.
Lai, a billionaire media entrepreneur, founded the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper in 1995, once Hong Kong’s most outspoken pro-democracy publication. He is among the highest-profile figures arrested under the 2020 National Security Law Beijing imposed following the unrest.
The protests, sparked by fears Beijing was eroding Hong Kong’s promised autonomy, were followed by a sweeping security crackdown that criminalized dissent and reshaped the city’s legal system.
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The sentence also puts renewed pressure on President Donald Trump, who has previously spoken out about Lai’s detention and is expected to travel to Beijing in April amid broader negotiations with China.
Human rights advocates and some lawmakers have urged Trump to raise Lai’s case directly with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, warning that silence would be read in Beijing as acquiescence.
Trump said in December 2025 that he had personally urged Xi to release Lai.
“I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release,” Trump said. “He’s not well, he’s an older man, and he’s not well, so I did put that request out. We’ll see what happens.”
Hong Kong authorities convicted Lai of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, a national security offense under the Beijing-imposed law. Prosecutors argued that Lai and his co-defendants used his media platform and international network to lobby for sanctions, blockades or other hostile actions by foreign governments against China and Hong Kong — actions the court said threatened national security.
Judges labeled Lai the “mastermind” of the alleged plots.
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Lai also was convicted of conspiracy to publish seditious materials under a separate provision of Hong Kong’s colonial-era Crimes Ordinance, applied in conjunction with the national security regime. Prosecutors cited hundreds of Apple Daily articles they said were designed to “incite public hatred or contempt” against authorities.
Lai and his defense team rejected that characterization as criminalizing expression.
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Sebastian Lai, the publisher’s son, said the sentence effectively amounts to a life term given his father’s age and deteriorating health.
“Twenty years, he’s 78 years old now. This is essentially a life sentence — or more like a death sentence, given the conditions he’s being kept in,” Sebastian Lai told Fox Monday.
He said his father has lost significant weight in detention and now suffers from heart issues and diabetes, adding, “We’re incredibly worried about his life.”
Sebastian Lai said his father, a Catholic, remains “a man of deep faith” despite years in detention, believing “no matter how hard the conditions he was under, that he still did the right thing.”
He also recalled that his father declined multiple opportunities to leave Hong Kong before his arrest, choosing instead to stay rather than abandon his principles or colleagues.
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The younger Lai said his father’s case should serve as a warning for Taiwan, arguing that Beijing’s promise of autonomy under a “one country, two systems” model in Hong Kong has revealed how tightly mainland China ultimately controls the territory.
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Lai already has spent more than five years in prison, serving a separate sentence for a fraud conviction and for organizing unauthorized assemblies during the protests.
His defense has argued the case criminalized political speech and journalism rather than genuine national security threats. They say Lai’s calls for international pressure on Beijing amounted to lawful advocacy and that meetings with U.S. officials and media appearances were routine for a prominent publisher and democracy advocate, not evidence of conspiracy.