Donald Trump criticizes Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai's arrest, says "It is terrible"

United States President Donald Trump on Thursday called the detention of Hong Kong media Tycoon Jimmy Lai by the Hong Kong police as "terrible" development and said that he has withdrawn all the incentives from the Asian financial hub after the imposition of the national security law by the Chinese Communist Regime.

"It is terrible. We gave tremendous incentives to Hong Kong because of the freedom we want freedom. We have now withdrawn all of those incentives and it will be impossible for Hong Kong to compete with respect to that," he told reporters.

"The United States will end up making a lot more money because we lost a lot of businesses to Hong Kong. We made it very convenient for people to go there. The US will be a big beneficiary," he added.

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Jimmy Lai's arrest and release

Trump's criticism is in light of Jimmy Lai being arrested by Hong Kong police on August 10 under the draconian National Security Law. The Hong Kong police stormed into the offices of Lai’s Apple Daily newspaper and arrested the media mogul over suspected collusion with foreign forces. The Police also arrested his two sons and other associates. 

This move by Hong Kong police under the instruction of the autocratic Chinese Communist Regime has brought international criticism. United State’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on August 10 said he was troubled by the reports of the arrest of Jimmy Lai, media tycoon and ardent critic of the Communist Party of China, under draconian National Security law. The European Union too expressed their concern over the arrest of Jimmy Lai saying that it further stoke fears that the National Security Law is being used to stifle freedom of expression.

Lai is the founder of Giordano, an Asian clothing retailer; Next Digital, a Hong Kong-listed media company; and popular pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. The 71-year-old entrepreneur has been a vocal critic of the authoritarian Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime and has been one of the main contributors to the pro-democracy camp. Lai has often termed the CCP rule as “murderous regime”

On August 11, Hong Kong police released Jimmy Lai, his two sons and other arrested associates on bail after facing severe criticisms from the international fora.

Upon his release, Lai spoke to the reporters in a Facebook Live session. In his inspiring address, he asked his staff to continue filing the ‘unvarnished dispatches’ that have infuriated China and pro-Beijing politicians in Hong Kong. He also quipped that it was becoming increasingly difficult to run a media business in Hong Kong. Talking about his arrest, he added that “luckily” he wasn’t sent back to the mainland. He asked his reporters to “Keep Fighting.”

"Fight on! Let's fight on. We have the support of the Hong Kong people. We can't let them down," he said.

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