Did the president bring up the case of Jimmy Lai? The president always raises that case and a couple others. And obviously we'll hope to get a positive response from that. If China were to release him, could he come to the United States? I think we would like to see him released.
We'd be open to any arrangement that would work for them as long as he's given his freedom. And that's the key. Jimmy Lai, self-made multi-millionaire who has a newspaper that he refused to shut down despite Hong Kong being steamrolled by Red China and no longer that That refuge for democracy, which was owned by the British for years and then was being turned over. And all of a sudden, the Chinese decided enough of this freedom and these protests, we'll take it. And then they'll try to stop Jimmy Lai, the most famous name in Taiwan.
And now he's got a 25-year prison sentence. Claire Lai knows all about it. She's the daughter of the political prisoner, Jimmy Lai, and she joins us now. Claire, welcome. Your thoughts about what the Secretary of State just said about your dad.
Firstly, thank you so much for having me. We are so extremely grateful to President Trump and his administration, Secretary of State Ruvio, for their continuous commitment to freeing my father and securing his freedom. This is I mean, President Trump brought my father up first in South Korea and brought him up again, and true to his wife brought him up again this time. Of course, the dream was that he would fly back with my father this time, but I am still extremely confident that he is the president and this is the administration that will secure my father's freedom. How's he doing?
You know, my father, he's turning 79 this year. He has a lot of health issues. I mean, he has heart issues. You know, every summer he gets heat rashes and they're like big red bumps, you know, painful red bumps. He has infections that last for months.
He has severe back pains and he has, you know, he's been diabetic for a long time, but it's very poorly managed. Inside prison, he has, gosh, I mean, he has nails that are falling off. He has teeth that are rotting and just a myriad and myriad of health issues. And, you know, we're just extremely, extremely worried. I mean, we've stopped really getting proper health reports in January.
And that's not for lack of asking. It's just that they just stopped providing them. You think he regrets not shutting down that newspaper and just getting out? He has so many allies and friends around the world. You know, I think it's it's hard to to uh You know, it's hard to look at life with a certain, you know, as the saying goes, you know, hindsight's 2020.
But I think my father is extremely, extremely grateful, and he has expressed it on multiple occasions while I was still in Hong Kong for all the friends who continue to speak up on his behalf and continue to support him. And he is so grateful and humbled by it, and so extremely blessed. And so is our entire family. But I think, you know, Part of uh what Part of what guided him, of course, was character. I mean, the other part is also the Holy Spirit.
And I think he knows that he answers to you know, he knows that ultimately he answers to God and he knows that what he did was right. With American Home Shield, you can now video chat with live repair experts for help with home fixes over the phone. American Home Shield, don't worry, be warranty. Visit ahs.com/slash listen for 20% off any plan. Available as a benefit with select plans.
Here is the President on the gaggle. He's on the plane, I think, still. And this is what he said to the press when your dad's name came up, Cut Eleven. Do you remember? President Sheet Independent.
Political prisoners in China? Are anybody going to be released? Any program? I think he's giving very serious consideration to the pastor. The pastor is.
Said he's giving very c serious consideration to that. It's a tougher one. I did bring it up. It's a tougher one for him. It's a tougher one.
See, Jimmy Lye is a tough one for him to do. Went through a lot. And right or wrong, they went through a lot, so uh Uh he told me that would be a tough one. He said he's gonna strongly consider the best.
So that doesn't sound as promising as I had hoped. Um, no, but I'm still extremely confident that, you know. You know, my father is uh My father is a man. I mean, he has always been for peaceful protests, he has always been anti independence. And as much as he got attacks from the very pro CCP camp, he also got attacks from the more radical camps who were more violent than for independence in Hong Kong.
And You know, it's all all my father wanted was for the for the rights that were promised in the Sino-British Joint Declaration to be you know to be kept. And you know, that that was a treaty that was signed between the UK and China, you know, in its exercise of its sovereignty. And I think No, it's not as helpful as I would have hoped, but I think I think my my final story ultimately is very much uh One of hope because You know, of course, I, as a family, we grew up Catholic. My father converted one year after I was born. But I think in a lot of ways He didn't know, I mean, I didn't, and he didn't really understand truly the abundance of God's grace and the abundance of his mercy until he really experienced.
An intensity of suffering and of solitude that he experienced in prison. And I think. It's a reminder that, you know, for us, you know, our hope was built built on Calvary and it rests in God. Right. For people just getting to know him, we have about a minute left.
Tell me, how did your dad make his money? How did he get his path to success? You know, he he escaped the he escaped the mainland when he was twelve. He worked on factory floors and then he made his and then he he became a manager and then he made his money in retail and manufacturing. And when he was forced to sell his company in the aftermath of Tiananmen Square massacre because he he criticized the government, he went into what he described as the business of delivering freedom, which for him was providing a marketplace of information and ideas through what became Apple Daily.
And that is why he is in jail today. Yeah, he's a very principled guy. He understands what life can be, and that's why it's so important, too, that Taiwan remains free. And nobody wants that life of mainland China when you could have the life what Hong Kong was and you could have the life that Taiwan has. And think about that, that small island, how product how productive China could be.
If they just allowed their people to be free and weren't afraid of their own people. Claire, best of luck. I really believe something's going to happen for your dad. Tell him to hang in there, and I hope we can stay in touch. Thank you so much, Martin.
Thank you so much for having me.
