Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig is raising concerns about the physical and mental health of jailed Hong Kong democracy activist and publisher Jimmy Lai, citing the “inhuman” conditions he endured during his own detention in Beijing between December 2018 and September 2021.
Testifying before a Nov. 6 House Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development on the detention of Lai in Hong Kong, Kovrig raised the alarm about Lai’s well-being, saying that, based on his own experience, the conditions under which prisoners of the Chinese regime are typically held take a serious toll on both body and mind.
Kovrig, who is now a think tank scholar, was detained in China in 2018 for more than 1,000 days along with fellow Canadian Michael Spavor as part of Beijing’s retaliation for the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition warrant….