Donald Trump calls arrested Hong Kong pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai ‘brave man’

The United States President Donald Trump on August 19 reportedly called arrested Hong Kong media mogul, Jimmy Lai, a ‘brave man’ and said that he sent him ‘best wishes’. Lai was detained on August 10, along with 10 others, under the security law imposed by Beijing. According to international media reports, earlier this month, the Hong Kong police stormed into the offices of Lai’s Apple Daily newspaper and arrested the media mogul over suspected collusion with foreign forces. The Police also arrested his two sons and other associates. 

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Trump, who expressed his support for the pro-democracy advocate, called Lai ‘certainly a brave man’. The US President had called Lai’s detention a ‘terrible’ development. After the arrest, Trump had also withdrawn all the incentives from the Asian financial hub.

China’s crackdown has provoked outrage in the West and deepened fears for millions. Being has declared that it will have jurisdiction over especially serious national security crimes, toppling the legal firewall between the mainland’s Communist Party-controlled courts and Hong Kong’s independent judiciary.  The 71-year-old entrepreneur, Lai, has been a vocal critic of the authoritarian Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime and has been one of the main contributors to the pro-democracy camp. Lai has often reportedly termed the CCP rule as ‘murderous regime’. 

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US withdraws from bilateral deals with HK 

Meanwhile, Trump’s ‘best wishes’ for Lai comes after US officials formally notified the former British colony that America has withdrawn from three bilateral deals with the semi-autonomous Chinese city on extradition and taxation. The announcement also follows Trump’s decision to revoke Hong Kong’s preferential trade status. 

The United States determined that Hong Kong is no longer sufficiently autonomous to enjoy a different treatment than mainland China. Under the new executive order, companies manufacturing in Hong Kong will now have to label their products as 'Made in China', particularly those meant for export to the United States. A new notification issued by the US Customs & Border Protection said that goods made for export to the US will need to be labelled as made in China after September 25. 

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