Free China

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — September 4, 2026

The Free China Movement honors Jimmy Lai not merely as a Hong Kong democracy advocate, but as a remarkably successful Chinese entrepreneur who chose to place liberty, human dignity and democratic principles above personal security and material comfort.

Lai came from Mainland China to Hong Kong with little, built successful businesses through entrepreneurship and hard work, and achieved the financial independence millions seek. He could have protected that success through silence. Instead, he used his wealth, media organizations and public voice to defend freedom of speech, freedom of the press, democratic participation and the rule of law.

Now 78, Lai is serving a 20-year prison sentence imposed in February 2026. FCM calls for his immediate and unconditional release and for full protection of his health and legal rights.

From the pioneers of the Republic to Jimmy Lai

More than a century ago, pioneers of the Chinese republican movement — including Qiu Jin, Lin Juemin and the martyrs remembered through the Huanghuagang uprising — accepted extraordinary personal risks in the effort to awaken fellow Chinese to constitutional government and citizenship. Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing and others devoted years of their lives, resources and personal security to the republican cause.

Their historical circumstances were different from Lai’s, and FCM does not equate armed revolution with today’s peaceful democratic struggle. What connects them is the willingness to place principle above personal comfort and to act before political change appears safe or inevitable.

There is also a parallel with the American founding generation of the eighteenth century, whose members understood that declarations of liberty required people willing to risk their fortunes and security for institutions that would protect future generations.

FCM therefore calls on entrepreneurs, executives, investors and professionals in Mainland China, Hong Kong, the Republic of China on Taiwan and Chinese communities worldwide to consider what responsibility accompanies wealth and influence.

A Free China should protect private property, free enterprise, independent courts, freedom of speech and press, peaceful political opposition, freedom of association and government accountable to citizens. These principles are not anti-business; they are foundations of durable prosperity.

FCM does not ask today’s entrepreneurs to seek martyrdom. We ask them to find the courage to act peacefully, lawfully and persistently: support independent information, defend political prisoners, strengthen civil society, fund constitutional research and refuse to let commercial interests silence conscience.

The pioneers of the Republic awakened one generation. Jimmy Lai’s example can help awaken another. Our generation’s responsibility is to turn courage into institutions — and institutions into a free China.

Free enterprise needs the rule of law. Innovation needs freedom of thought. Prosperity needs secure rights. China’s future needs freedom.