Jimmy Lai's Daughter: Dad's Fingernails Are Falling Off

Jimmy Lai's family says the 78-year-old Hong Kong media tycoon is physically breaking down behind bars, even as Chinese authorities insist he's in "good health." In a letter seen by the BBC, relatives of the British citizen are urging UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to press for Lai's release when he meets China's Xi Jinping next month, in what will be the first visit by a British prime minister in eight years. Lai's daughter Claire, who lives in exile in London, says her father's health has sharply declined since his 2020 arrest:

• "He has failing eyesight and failing hearing, he has fingernails that turn purplish-grey and sometimes fall off, he has teeth that are rotting, he has back and waist pains and some days it's painful for him to stand."

Chinese officials reject claims of mistreatment, saying Lai's rights have been protected and that he's held in a "safe, humane" environment. The Telegraph reports he has spent much of the last five years in solitary confinement. Lai, the founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, was convicted this month of colluding with foreign forces under Hong Kong's national security law and of publishing seditious material under a colonial-era statute. He faces life in prison.