Arrest of Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai ‘a terrible thing’, says Trump

US President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized the arrest of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai this week under China’s new national security law.

“I think it’s a terrible thing,” Trump told reporters in response to a question about Lai’s arrest.

Lai, a staunch supporter of the city’s democracy movement, was arrested on Monday on suspicion of collusion with foreign forces as police raided the offices of his Apple Daily tabloid.

He was released on bail early on Wednesday, and greeted by a throng of supporters chanting “fight till the end”.