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February 27, 2026 36 mins

When pro-democracy protesters marched in the streets in Hong Kong in 2019, China responded by arresting thousands, including the leaders of the movement.

One of the arrested was Jimmy Lai, who had used his newspaper to campaign for democracy. This month, he received a 20-year jail sentence.

In an interview, Michael Barbaro speaks to Mr. Lai’s son, Sebastien Lai, about the sentence, what it means for the pro-democracy movement and where Hong Kong may go from here.

Guest: Sebastien Lai, a democracy activist and the son of the pro-democracy media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai.

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Photo: Andrew Testa for The New York Times

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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