Washington DC - President Donald Trump spoke out against the conviction and lengthy imprisonment of Hong Kong journalist Jimmy Lai on charges put forward by Chinese authorities.

Trump said that he had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to free Jimmy Lai.

"I feel so badly. I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release," Trump told reporters, without identifying when this conversation took place. "He's an older man, and he's not well. So I did put that request out. We'll see what happens."

Long before Trump returned to the White House in January, he had indicated that he wanted to see Lai released from prison in Hong Kong.

It is likely that Trump brought up Lai's detention when he attended a face-to-face meeting with Xi in October. Both leaders praised the meeting as a huge success and expressed the desire to mend the relationship between Washington and Beijing.

A 78-year-old diabetic, Lai has been anguishing in a Chinese prison cell since his brutal arrest in 2020 on national security charges. Lai founded Apple Daily, a major pro-democracy and anti-Chinese newspaper that was seized by Beijing in 2021.

Shortly following Trump's remarks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the verdict showed China's determination to "silence those who seek to protect freedom of speech and other fundamental rights."

"Reports indicate that Mr. Lai's health has severely deteriorated during more than 1,800 days in prison," Rubio said in a statement.

"We urge the authorities to bring this ordeal to an end as soon as possible and to release Mr. Lai on humanitarian grounds."