00:00The case of Jimmy Lai, found guilty of sedition and foreign collusion in Hong Kong,
00:05has drawn attention from Western leaders.
00:07U.S. President Donald Trump said he has asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to consider his release.
00:14I feel so badly. I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release.
00:23He'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.
00:32While Washington's urging authorities to end the case and release Lai on humanitarian grounds,
00:37the U.K. has also called for his release as a British citizen.
00:41I call again for Jimmy Lai's immediate release.
00:46On my instruction, the Foreign Office has today summoned the Chinese ambassador
00:50to underline our position in the strongest terms.
00:54With the U.K. criticizing the case as a politically motivated prosecution,
00:59the U.K. has also called for the former media tycoon's release,
01:02describing the case as a reflection of eroding freedoms in Hong Kong.
01:07China has pushed back both diplomatically and publicly,
01:10including summoning U.K.'s officials and responding openly to the verdict.
01:13As governments weigh in, Lai's family expressed consent for their aged father's health
01:27as he faces a potential life sentence.
01:30When my father went to prison, he was a 72-year-old, not young, but in relatively good health.
01:37And from all the reports that I've received, his health has deteriorated massively.
01:42My father is a 78-year-old man in family health.
01:46I mean, this would be the humanitarian and the right and the honorable thing for China to do.
01:54Amid these worries from Lai's family and foreign leaders,
01:57the trial and conviction highlight just how much Hong Kong's legal and judicial landscape has changed
02:02since the passage of the national security law,
02:05and just how many freedoms may have been lost.
02:08Joseph Wu and I.T. for Taiwan Plus.
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