At his May summit in Beijing, President Trump made an effort to convince Chinese leader Xi Jinping to release Jimmy Lai from his imprisonment in Hong Kong. Jimmy, whom I am honored to call a friend, is a 78-year-old diabetic who has been in solitary confinement, some seven hundred days longer than the United States was engaged in World War II, and is now serving a twenty-year sentence for threatening Chinese national security.
That conviction has no more legal or moral validity than that of the Lord by Pontius Pilate. And I find it deeply moving that, in the prison cell where Jimmy does colored pencil sketches of religious scenes, many of them depict the Crucifixion; one of those sketches is among my most prized possessions. By conforming himself in prayer to the crucified Lord, Jimmy Lai is living his unjust punishment as an occasion of grace.
That, however, doesn’t change the brutal reality of his situation: namely, the virtual certainty that he will die in jail, having never been restored to his family, unless Emperor Xi lets him go into exile.
Donald Trump does not strike me as a sentimental man, but I have the impression that he really does care about Jimmy Lai and his fate. All the more reason, then, to wonder why, in explaining his attempt to convince Xi Jinping to let Jimmy go, the president recycled communist talking points about Jimmy causing “bedlam”—by which the Chinese communists mean encouraging and participating in peaceful demonstrations demanding that the Beijing regime honor the commitments to freedom it made when Hong Kong reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. Causing this “bedlam,” the president said, made Jimmy’s case a “tough one” for the Chinese communist dictator.
But is that the real reason for Xi Jinping’s intransigence, thus far, in the matter of Jimmy Lai?
For several years now, well-informed sources have told me that Jimmy is caught in a conflict between the Chinese foreign ministry and the Chinese internal security mandarins in Beijing and Hong Kong.
For the diplomats of the foreign ministry, Jimmy Lai is a problem they’d like to be relieved of so that it doesn’t come up, time and again, in negotiations with other powers. So at the time of Jimmy’s lengthy show trial in 2023-25, the foreign ministry favored “convict and expel:” save the repulsive National Security Law imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 by finding him guilty of its violation, but then expel him from Hong Kong into exile—presumably in Great Britain, of which Jimmy is a citizen.
The security goons, on the other hand, are said to have been arguing that, if Jimmy is exiled, that will only encourage others in Hong Kong to protest the ever-increasing repression in that once-vibrant city-state. So, their line of reasoning goes, let the twenty-year sentence play out, and if that means Jimmy Lai dies in Stanley Prison, so be it. In their twisted minds, such cruelty might be useful.
Any such argument between two factions of the Chinese communist regime can only be settled by one man: Xi Jinping. His refusal, thus far, to resolve it in favor of the foreign ministry suggests the possibility that the emperor has fewer clothes than the rest of the world thinks: either he lacks the power to resolve the dispute between the prudential diplomats and the security thugocracy, or he fears that coming down on the side of the foreign ministry would jeopardize his firm grip on the internal security apparatus, to his own peril.
And that, I suggest, is why Jimmy Lai’s case is a “tough one” for Xi Jinping: the nonsense about Jimmy causing “bedlam” is a cover for the emperor’s weakness.
What can his fellow Catholics do for Jimmy Lai at the moment? We can hold him in prayer every day. We can urge the Administration to continue to press for Jimmy’s release, and we can urge our representatives and senators to press the Administration to keep pressing the Chinese regime. We can urge the bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Stephen Chow, SJ, who has been notably AWOL throughout the Jimmy Lai drama, to remember that Catholicism’s premier political prisoner is his diocesan congregant, and that this white martyr deserves every pastoral support the Church in Hong Kong can offer as he faces the possibility of red martyrdom.
And, inspired by Jimmy Lai’s own rock-solid faith, we can hope that those continued intercessions and pressures lead to his restoration to his family, and to the freedom Jimmy so nobly defended because he believed doing so was a religious and moral obligation.
(George Weigel’s column ‘The Catholic Difference’ is syndicated by the Denver Catholic, the official publication of the Archdiocese of Denver.)
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Notably absent from this essay is the publicly declared VOICELESSNESS of the “Paradigm-Shift-Pontiff-Leo,” who when asked directly by a journalist about the Chinese Communist Party’s imprisonment of Jimmy Lai, replied: “I can’t talk about that.”
Of course you cannot Pontiff Leo, because of your “Secret Accord with the Chinese Communist Party,” which was declared by the polluted mind of the Bergoglio-Cultists, via their mouthpiece “Excellency Sorondo, in February 2018, as the exemplar of “social justice,” to wit: “…those who are best implementing the social doctrine of the Church are the Chinese.”
https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/praise-of-china-s-adherence-to-catholic-social-doctrine-flies-in-the-face-of-facts?amp
One thing is certain about the SILENCE of Pontiff Leo regarding the Chinese Communist Regime: his confrere’s David Axelrod and Barry Sotero (aka Barack Obama) approve.
Again Chris In Maryland I commend your comment. How sickening that we have a pontiff who can comment on every passing social issue such as climate change, but is suddenly tongue tired when it comes to a modern martyr. Very disillusioned.
Thank you Alice.
And while it is so troubling to see more and more what the Pontiff Leo amounts to, we can take heart.
When Jesus came to earth to proclaim The Truth, the heretic Caiphas was High Priest, and the pagan Herod was King. And Jesus showed us how to live with that.
And He encourages us: “In this world you will have troubles, but take heart, for I have conquered the world.”
God bless us all.
Dear Alice, once again people seem to have very short memories when it comes to what previous Popes have said: “The gradual depletion of the ozone layer and the related “greenhouse effect” has now reached crisis proportions.” ~ Pope John Paul II (1990)
“The gradual depletion of the ozone layer and the related “greenhouse effect” has now reached crisis proportions.” ~ Pope John Paul II (1990)
On the contrary, that is why people object to Popes offering opinions outside their competence or charism.
From Chemical and Engineering News:
“When scientists discovered a hole in the ozone layer in the 1980s, they quickly attributed it to the action of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). The international community reacted swiftly. Countries phased out the use and production of CFCs after the passage of the Montreal Protocol and replaced them with apparently safer alternatives, which has allowed the ozone hole to heal over time.
But these chemical replacements have their own drawbacks: they’re greenhouse gases and break down into short-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the atmosphere that spread to every corner of the world. A third of global atmospheric pollution of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) comes from replacement CFCs, according to new research (Geophys. Res. Lett. 2026, DOI: 10.1029/2025GL119216). While scientists are still untangling the health effects of TFA, early research suggests that it may harm human reproduction.”
The last sentence is ironic as JPII coined the phrase “culture of death” and we are entering a demographic winter in many parts of the world, the last thing we need is impaired reproduction.
Agree.
The words “not your job” come to mind.
“what people do not know is that the central Chinese principle is ‘work, work, work.’ As Paul said: ‘He who does not work does not eat.’ You do not have shantytowns …”
1.) If somebody were to suggest a work requirement for the receipt of public support in the West, the usual suspects would be accused of lacking compassion or not affording them “dignity”. On the other hand, we’ve all seen those pictures of Chinese workers with their heads slumped over from fatigue at electronics assembly lines and the howling of the people locked down over COVID.
2.) Sorondo’s affection for work is inversely proportional to the quantity and intensity performed by a religious bureaucrat.
Sorondo is evil, stupid or both.
Chris,
Actually, Sorondo did not comment directly on the Provisional Agreement. His comment is dated March 2018 while the Agreement was signed on September 22, 2018. But Sorondo’s mindset was apparently in play, although Cardinal Zen went on record as proposing that Cardinal Parolin misled Francis into signing the agreement. Then, of course, there was the rogue global diplomacy of McCarrick that is also reported to have been a factor.
So, Pope Leo does not own but has inherited the problem of the Provisional Agreement which in 2026 is up for renewal, or not; as well as the July 1 drop-dead date with both der Synodal Weg and SSPX, not to mention the simmering issue of TLM.
My own perspective on how this perfect storm plays out with our new pope is that I am not the fly on the wall who knows all…
Peter:
Yes, I understand that Sorondo was not referring to the appalling Secret Accord itself, and was not intending my comment to communicate that, but to simply communicate the prevailing Vatican “preferential option for socialist states.”
And while I share your posture of not being “a fly on the wall who knows all,” I have since the horrific carnival of the Jorge Bergoglio pontificate, concluded that the Pontiff Francis and his enabling Cardinals forfeited the rebuttable presumption of faithfulness, and have “the mind of McCarrick,” or what Eminence Parolin calls their “paradigm shift,” and my presumption of distrust will stand until such time that the Pontiff Leo or any man after him starts behaving like a good shepherd. Such behavior would include, for example, justice in the case of Rev. Rupnik, and restoring the good name of Libero Milone, and dispensing with Eminences Fernandez and Parolin and Grech and Hollerich, and explaining his own kneeling in homage of Pachamama, just for an honest start.
While my tone at the end is not one of contentment, my negative attitude is not directed at you, but at the characters named above, etc.
Also put pressure on President Donald Trump.
President Trump “not a sentimental man”, Mr. George Weigel? I respectfully differ with you. He takes no salary, but every month gives it to a non-profit; he gave up a lucrative personal career to serve our nation for the cause of continual sovereignty against all foes, foreign and domestic, he has been nearly assassinated several times and at almost 80 years old still stays strong and determined to fight for our country. Donald Trump will go down in the history books as one the greatest, Presidents we have ever had. Would you give up your salary to serve our nation? Would I? And it’s not a matter of wealth because everyone knows that no matter how rich or how poor, there is no limit to the amount of money needed (or coveted depending upon one’s outlook on the matter). Would you be willing to survive several assassination attempts and still espouse the philosophy entailed in your writings? Would any of us be willing to stay the course under such continual threats to our life? I suggest to you that our President is very sentimental for all the right reasons, and he is very brave to boot. Would that all of us were so determined to stand up for what we believe because of our “sentimental” love for our nation and its people!
As to money and sacrifice, history may uncover how much Donald Trump profited from being President! Also consider that the President’s salary is peanuts to a billionaire.
I think you’re projecting what the Democrats you support do onto Trump.
Agree Sarah. Well said.
The current President has had 3 wives one of who he cheated on while she was pregnant and one of whom he buried on a golf course for a tax break. He has taken a bulldozer to the White House in the dead of night and without asking second thought for the preservation of a national landmark. He is staging a UFC fight on the front lawn of said house. He repeatedly tells us that he “doesn’t care” about citizens feelings, opinions, finances or cost of living. He dropped that pretense immediately after the election. He continues to baselessly claim he won an election that he lost and impune the integrity of our democracy. He is a callous and crass greedy man about as “sentimental” as the Grinch.
Dry up Gerard. You are simply parroting the talking points of the democommunists. You should display HALF the generosity of President Trump. And your clinging to claims that the Obama marionette, Joe Biden, won the 2020 election is a testament to the fact that you bury your head in the sand.
Persistence in false belief is delusional, Michael. Refute facts with facts and do seek help for your cognitive issues.
I wish the Holy See diplomatic corps saw results. President Trump was able to name publicly that he desires Jimmy Lai’s liberty. There are other world leaders who seem like the cowardly lion, cat’s got their tongue.
🙏✝️💕🌹
Chris, I did not know about this declaration by bishop Sorondo! He is the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Science! This is horrible. Things are worse in the “magisterium” than I thought. It further explains so many other things.
These “Vatican-istas” are repulsive frauds.
I commit to pray daily for this disciple of Christ, Jimmy Lai. I believe when the followers of Jesus Christ unite in prayer, miracles can happen. I am chastened at my own complaining when I have ignored that which is directly within my control – to pray. Jimmy Lai deserves more from me – if you find yourself in similar circumstances, please join us in prayer that he may finally be set free.
Well said, I commit to that also.
Dear Pitchfork, my point wasn’t really about climate change, no matter how stupid it may be, but how most people are complaining like the destruction of the Catholic Church just started with Pope Francis/Leo, using them as scapegoats, while blind to the fact that Pope John Paul II’s papacy was just as responsible as we now can see Archbishop Lefebvre’s prophetic warning 40 years ago about the deadly direction PJPII was taking the Church in has now become true.
In other words, this didn’t just happen overnight, the groundwork was being laid for 27 years. It’s a fact that all the Cardinals that elected Francis as Pope were appointed mostly by PJPII and some by PBXVI. PJPII, himself, made Francis a Cardinal even though it was known that Francis was liberal. Connect the dots.