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The son of Jimmy Lai has accused Sir Keir Starmer’s UK government of showing “weakness” towards China in the face of the continued detention of the former Hong Kong media tycoon and British citizen.

Sebastien Lai told the Financial Times that the health of his 77-year-old father, who was first arrested in Hong Kong in 2020, was rapidly deteriorating and called on Starmer to meet his family ahead of the G7 summit this month.

“It is urgent. I honestly don’t know how much longer my father has,” Lai said, urging the British government to do more to secure his release.

“If they can’t get my father out, if they can’t make it known that they stand behind what he has stood for, then it’s a real show of weakness,” he said.

“We are requesting to meet with the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer,” he added. Lai wants Starmer to raise his father’s ongoing captivity with other western leaders at the upcoming G7 summit in Canada to help build pressure on China, as well as ensuring the UK keeps pushing Beijing itself.

Jimmy Lai, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent democracy champions who ran the Apple Daily newspaper, was arrested by authorities after protests in 2019 against Beijing’s increasing control of the former British colony.

Hong Kong has its own government and a separate legal system from that of the mainland. But Beijing has tightened its grip on the city and imposed national security legislation that gave authorities sweeping powers to target broadly defined crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers.

China has painted Lai, who was arrested under the controversial national security law, as the instigator of pro-democracy protests. He has been charged in Hong Kong with “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” and with publishing “seditious” materials.

Lai’s family has said he was a newspaper publisher who believed in democracy, and that as a Hongkonger and British citizen the UK government should support them in fighting for his release.

They say Lai has been subject to “inhumane” treatment by being held in solitary confinement and that he has not been given access to specialist doctors for his diabetes.

Hong Kong’s Correctional Services Department said that the allegations were “completely baseless and contradicted by established facts”.

Jimmy Lai biography

1947 — Born in Guangdong province

1960 — Left mainland China for Hong Kong

1981 — Founded fashion retail chain Giordano. He was later forced to sell his shares under pressure from Beijing

1995 — Launched Apple Daily

2020 — Arrested under the Beijing-imposed national security law

2021 — Apple Daily forced to shut

Lai’s medical conditions were handled in the same manner as other prisoners, who were provided access to specialist medical care when required and Lai was put in solitary confinement at his own request, the department said. It also pointed to a statement from Lai’s Hong Kong-based legal team in September that he had been receiving appropriate medical care.

Last year, UK foreign secretary David Lammy met Lai’s family but received a rebuke from Beijing, which accused him of “meddling” in Hong Kong and China’s “internal affairs”.

Starmer’s Labour government has sought better relations with Beijing since taking office last July to boost UK trade with China, even as it still harbours concerns over national security and human rights.

More than 150,000 Hong Kong citizens have moved to the UK since 2021 under the British National (Overseas) visa route that was opened in response to China’s imposition of the national security law, which critics say eroded the principle of the city’s “one country, two systems” model in place since Britain left the territory in 1997.

Sebastien Lai said the UK needed to stand up for its beliefs, dismissing as “completely laughable” the idea that pushing harder for the release of his father would damage trade relations with China.

“The premise of that is the Chinese trade with us out of the goodness of their heart. Even they’ll tell us that that’s not true — no one in the Chinese Communist party is going to be surprised that the UK stands up for democracy,” Lai said.

Rachel Blake, Labour MP for Cities of London and Westminster, where the Lais have their home, has been supporting the family and has helped with a request to Starmer to meet the family.

Downing Street said Jimmy Lai’s case was a “priority for the UK government”, adding: “We continue to call on the Hong Kong authorities to end their politically motivated prosecution and immediately release Jimmy Lai.”

Lai’s son said his father’s case was a “test case” for the UK. “Our government putting their weight behind my father is a perfect opportunity to show what they stand for,” he said.

“If my father does die in jail, it’s not going to change what he’s stood for — but for our country, for the UK, it’s shame on us.”