Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will have discussions with his Chinese counterparts on the release of Jimmy Lai during his visit to China in October 2024.

I met with Sebastien Lai and Jimmy Lai’s international legal team on Tuesday 8 October in my capacity as Minister for the Indo-Pacific. The Foreign Secretary raised Jimmy Lai's case in his first meeting with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the ASEAN Summit on 26 July and his case remains a priority for this Government. We will continue to call on the Hong Kong authorities to end their politically motivated prosecution and immediately release Jimmy Lai. We will continue to press for consular access.