Lai's son fears he may die in prison

The son of imprisoned media mogul and prominent pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai Chee-ying said he did not want to see his father die in detention, as his lawyers raised the prospect that his long-delayed trial may be pushed back indefinitely.

Sebastien Lai Sung-yan, 28, also slammed the UK government for its "shameful" lack of action in helping his father, who is a British national.

Jimmy Lai, the 75-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily, has been in detention since his arrest in 2020 under a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing. He faces up to life if convicted. He has already been sentenced to five years and nine months in a separate case.

His trial was originally set to begin in December, but it has been delayed several times. It is now due to start on December 18.

Sebastien Lai - who has been traveling to the United States, Britain and the United Nations to lobby leaders to help his father - criticized London Wednesday for its muted language in condemning his father's lengthy detention.

He also called the UK approach to China incoherent because while some government officials are speaking out against Beijing's human rights record, others maintain it's paramount to keep China on side as a trade partner.

"If they are willing to sacrifice human rights for trade I think it's a big misstep," Lai said.

"I don't want to see my father die in jail. He's 75, he's in prison, he does risk just dying. It is very worrying," he added.

Caoilfhionn Gallagher, a rights lawyer leading the Lais' international legal team, said Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have declined to meet with Sebastien Lai despite requests.

"We're seeing very mixed messaging as a whole," she said. "We think there's an element of the UK government speaking out of both sides of its mouth - on the one hand it says something about Lai's case and throws us some breadcrumbs, and on the other they take that away by pushing the message that it's business as usual."

Sebastien Lai said he has not heard any fresh updates from Britain since Cleverly visited Beijing last month and raised his father's case, among other topics, with his Chinese counterparts.

Jimmy Lai is accused of conspiring with others to call for international sanctions or engage in hostile activities against Hong Kong or the mainland. He also faces a charge of collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security, and a separate sedition charge under a colonial-era law.

The tycoon and more than 260 others, including most of the city's prominent pro-democracy leaders, have been arrested under the national security law.

His trial has been delayed for months, partly due to a tussle over whether he can hire a king's counsel. The high court upheld a government decision to bar the counsel, Timothy Owen, from representing Lai.

Sebastien Lai has not seen his father in three years, and only saw what he looked like recently in exclusive Associated Press of him being led out by guards for daily exercise at Stanley Prison.

"Some part of me was happy because he's still the same ... [but] it also reminded me of his age," he said. "You never know what's going to happen tomorrow at that age."