March 31, 2025
Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Moolenaar, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, and Mr. Suozzi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
To designate the area between the intersections of 18th Street Northwest and Church Street Northwest, and 18th Street Northwest and P Street Northwest, in the District of Columbia as Jimmy Lai Way
, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Condemning the arbitary detention of Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong
(a) Findings
Congress finds the following:
(1)
Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, a Hong Kong democracy advocate, media entrepreneur, and a British citizen, has been in prison since December 2020 on multiple fabricated charges, and is serving a sentence of almost 6 years in prison under politically motivated fraud charges, concurrently serving two other sentences, one for joining a vigil to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, and another for participating in peaceful protests in 2019.
(2)
Jimmy Lai is held in solitary confinement for 23 hours and 10 minutes each day, with only 50 minutes for restricted exercise and limited human contact or access to daylight. He suffers from diabetes and has experienced significant weight loss and increasing frailty since being imprisoned. He was denied access to independent medical care.
(3)
The Apple Daily newspaper which Jimmy Lai founded and published was forced by the authorities in Hong Kong to close in June 2021, and the parent company Next Media was delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under government coercion in January 2023, severely restricting the free flow of news and information that undergirded Hong Kong role as a major financial center.
(4)
On August 10, 2020, Lai was charged with collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security
under Article 29 of the National Security Law, charges levied in part because of meetings taken with United States officials, including those during the first Administration of President Donald J. Trump (2016–2020) and supporting publicly the policies pursued at that time by the Administration.
(5)
Jimmy Lai’s meetings with former United States Government officials and public figures, including the Vice President, Secretary of State, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Consul-General in Hong Kong have been cited by the prosecution in the court proceedings.
(6)
Lai trial under the National Security Law began in December 2023 and is ongoing.
(7)
A group of United Nations experts, being alarmed by multiple and serious violations of Lai’s rights, including the right to a fair trial and access to a lawyer of his own choosing, called for his immediate release.
(8)
The minimum sentence required under the National Security Law is 10 years imprisonment, and therefore it is possible that Lai could spend the rest of his life behind bars.
(9)
In 1997, the United Kingdom transferred sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with guaranteed that fundamental rights are protected under both the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, which enumerate specific rights and freedoms including those of speech, of the press, and of assembly.
(10)
The Government of the People’s Republic of China has repeatedly undermined Hong Kong’s autonomy since, in particular since the Umbrella Movement protests in 2014, the mass prodemocracy protests in 2019, and the imposition of the draconian National Security Law in 2020.
(11)
Since its enactment in June 2020, the National Security Law, unilaterally passed by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee and enforced by officials in Hong Kong as a pretext to repress legitimate and peaceful speech, assembly, and expression of political opinions.
(12)
Jimmy Lai stands for the values of democracy, human rights, respect for the rule of law, religious freedom, freedom of expression, and media freedom, and is prosecuted and persecuted by the PRC’s proxies in Hong Kong solely because of his opinions and activities in pursuit of these values.
(b) Sense of congress
Congress—
(1)
condemns the unjust imprisonment, mistreatment, and the show trial of United Kingdom citizen Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong;
(2)
calls upon the Hong Kong authorities to release Jimmy Lai immediately and unconditionally and cease prosecuting him and others charged under the National Security Law;
(3)
reaffirms the importance of the freedom of speech and the right of publishers, journalists, and media workers in Hong Kong and around the world to operate free from intimidation, harassment, repression, censorship, and fear;
(4)
recognizes that the severe restrictions on the free flow of news and information from Hong Kong impacts the ability of individuals, corporations, and diplomats to make decisions about travel, investments, and political conditions in Hong Kong;
(5)
urges the Secretary of State and other relevant Department of State officials to advocate for the release of Jimmy Lai by raising his case with officials of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and People’s Republic of China;
(6)
urges the Secretary of State to employ the financial sanctions found in the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act and the Hong Kong Autonomy Act for Hong Kong officials complicit in the arrest and prosecution of Jimmy Lai and other political prisoners in Hong Kong;
(7)
urges the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to hold a special session and appoint an impartial and independent United Nations mechanism to evaluate, monitor, and report on a range of human rights violations in the People’s Republic of China, including the impact of the National Security Law on human rights in Hong Kong, as requested by over United Nations Special Experts in 2020; and
(8)
urges the Government of the United Kingdom and all governments that view extension of human rights, the rule of law, and an end to censorship as critical aspect of their national and economic security to call for all charges against Jimmy Lai to be dropped, the trial to end, and for the immediate and unconditional release of Jimmy Lai.
Sec. 2. Designation of Jimmy Lai Way
in the District of Columbia
(a) Designation of street name
(1) In general
The area between the intersections of 18th Street Northwest and Church Street Northwest, and 18th Street Northwest and P Street Northwest in the District of Columbia shall be known and designated as Jimmy Lai Way
.
(2) Reference
Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the area referred to in paragraph (1) shall be deemed to include Jimmy Lai Way
.
(b) Designation of address
(1) Designation
The address of 1520 18th Street Northwest in the District of Columbia shall be redesignated as 1 Jimmy Lai Way Northwest.
(2) References
Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the address referred to in paragraph (1) shall be deemed to be a reference to 1 Jimmy Lai Way Northwest.
(c) Signs
The Administrator of General Services shall construct street signs that shall—
(1)
contain the phrase Jimmy Lai Way NW
;
(2)
be similar in design to the signs used by the District of Columbia to designate the location of Metro stations; and
(3)
be placed on—
(A)
the parcel of Federal property that is closest to 1 Jimmy Lai Way Northwest (as redesignated by subsection (b)(1)) in the District of Columbia; and
(B)
the street corners of 18th Street Northwest and Church Street Northwest, and 18th Street Northwest and P Street Northwest, in the District of Columbia.
Sec. 3. Sense of Congress regarding mail delivery by the United States Postal Service to 1 Jimmy Lai Way
It is the sense of Congress that the Postmaster General should recognize any mail which is addressed to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office at 1 Jimmy Lai Way
in San Francisco, California, or New York, New York, with the appropriate postal codes, and should deliver such mail to—
(1)
130 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California 94104; or
(2)
115 East 54th Street, New York, New York 10022, as the case may be.