U.S. Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY), who are the co-chairs of the Congressional Uygher Caucus, introduced legislation to rename the location of the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office in Washington, DC as 1 Jimmy Lai Way to pay homage to Lai for his work in human rights and remains unjustly imprisoned in Hong Kong.

The bill, HR8125, would “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.’”

Lai, a 76 year old advocate for democracy and a media entrepreneur, has been imprisoned since December 2020 on false allegations and charges. He is currently serving a six year sentence for “politically-motivated fraud charges.” Lai has previously served two other sentences for his actions, one sentence for “joining a vigil to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, and another for participating in peaceful protests in 2019. “

Lai’s Apple Daily newspaper was forced to close by the Hong Kong government in 2021, and his other company, Next Media, was delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2023. 

“Jimmy Lai is a man of faith and conviction, someone who fervently believed that Hong Kong’s prosperity and vitality were built on the rights promised to its citizens,” said Smith.  “We will continue to press for Jimmy Lai’s unconditional release and seek ways to raise the diplomatic and reputational costs globally for the Hong Kong government and their Chinese Communist Party masters for their rough dismantling of democratic freedoms and the rule of law in Hong Kong.”

“Naming a street in Washington, DC, after Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy advocate and journalist standing up for human rights in Hong Kong, will signal to the entire world that the United States stands in solidarity with those who oppose the tyranny and repression of the Chinese government,” Suozzi said.