Trump shoots from the hip, and people treat his words like ironclad promises—big mistake. Wait until he delivers.
The fresh proof hits close to home: heading to South Korea, reporters grill him on raising Taiwan and Jimmy Lai with President Xi. He fires back, "Yes." But post-Trump-Xi summit, he owns up—no Taiwan talk at all. On the "Lai case," details stay fuzzy, yet officials' vibes scream it got sidelined too. Trump had no choice but to square up with the Chinese side this round, so he tackles the heavy hitters and brushes off the footnotes.
Still, folks misread his playbook and prod him to act—Jimmy Lai's godfather, William McGurn, leads the charge. He drops an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal pre-summit to twist Trump's arm, and the pitch? Just a joke.
Jimmy Lai's "godfather" William McGurn wrote in The Wall Street Journal urging Trump to raise Lai's release with President Xi during their meeting – his arguments were laughable, and it all came to nothing.
Days before takeoff to South Korea, a reporter corners Trump: Will Taiwan and Jimmy Lai make the agenda? He blurts out, "I'll be talking about it" On Lai, he tosses in, it was "on my list," then hedges fast—Lai's Xi's top foe, "I'm going to ask… We'll see what happens," buying himself an escape hatch.
Post-meeting, Trump spills to reporters mid-flight home: he didn't mention Taiwan. U.S. officials whisper to Reuters that beyond trade, rare earths, and Russian oil buys, Trump had zero plans to broach extras with President Xi. By that measure, no plea for "releasing Lai" hit the table.
If that's the straight dope, the "Save Lai crew's" pre-summit circus flops hard—total zilch impact. Prime ringmaster? Jimmy Lai's baptism godfather as a Catholic, Wall Street Journal scribe William McGurn.
Summit Stakes Rise
McGurn times his strike perfectly, penning "The Trump Card That Could Free Jimmy Lai" in The Wall Street Journal right as Trump wheels up. It kicks off bold: Trump's the sole savior who can spring Jimmy Lai from jail, and this Trump-Xi huddle is prime time—top of the list, no less, since "it’s hard to think of another prominent Asian in the media world as pro-American as Mr. Lai".
McGurn spins it from Beijing's angle: If Xi Jinping craves a hassle-free U.S. trip next year, dodging Western media grillings on Jimmy Lai mid-tour, freeing Lai nips that in the bud. Trump floating the release hands China an elegant off-ramp from the bind.
I devour McGurn's piece and land here: utter bunk! A media vet like him, blind to Chinese thinking—it's laugh-out-loud naive. Post-Hong Kong National Security Law, Western nations hammer away from every flank, pressuring China without mercy. The central government steels itself to shift Hong Kong from chaos to order, shrugging off the barrage—how could they fold easy on Jimmy Lai?
The reality is, Lai ranks as a prime national security violator; zero give there, and Trump gets it cold. The other side won't twitch a muscle for any "deal," so when crunch time hits for hashing big-ticket items nose-to-nose, Lai stays off the board.
Jimmy Lai's "godfather" William McGurn wrote in The Wall Street Journal urging Trump to raise Lai's release with President Xi during their meeting – his arguments were laughable, and it all came to nothing.
Pragmatism Trumps Pleas
Bottom line, Trump's a hardcore pragmatist—chasing max payoff, he skips the moral high ground or buddy favors. So McGurn's bet that Trump saves Lai for being "pro-American"? Dead wrong. In Trump's worldview, Jimmy Lai's a dead-end card now; if playing it torpedoes the trade, it stays buried. No shock if the summit truly ghosts the Lai file.
McGurn rode high once as George W. Bush's wordsmith, shining in White House poli-circles, and he's long cozied up to Lai—one of the shadowy forces fueling Hong Kong's turmoil. But today? Zero pull on Trump's calls. With The Wall Street Journal branded enemy press by the White House, in the "Trump emperor's" gaze, he's just a dim-witted has-been blowing smoke—useless for any "Save Lai" push.
So let the circus roll on; Lai's endgame locks in. Everyone, snag your popcorn and catch the finale.
Lai Ting-yiu
What Say You?
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
London just dropped a classic good news, bad news bombshell on Hong Kong BNO holders.
The headline grabber? The path to permanent residency remains a five-year trek—the so-called "5+1" deal is safe. But here is the kicker: to actually cross the finish line, applicants must now survive a gauntlet of "extra spicy" new conditions. We are talking tougher English tests, strict income floors, and proof of continuous tax payments.
Think of it as a mouthful of sugar followed by a shot of hot chili. The anxiety on the ground is palpable. The South China Morning Post cites a survey warning that nearly 30 percent of these migrants do not meet the new bar. Unless London blinks, thousands will be screened out at the doorstep, leaving them empty-handed after five wasted years. Agitated Hong Kong people in UK are scrambling with petitions, but make no mistake: for the British government, utility is the only metric that matters.
Survey Warning: 30% of Hong Kong BNO holders fall short of London's new "permanent residence" rules and face being screened out at the finish line.
Here is the bait-and-switch: getting the visa was easy, but staying is going to cost you. Previously, income checks were nonexistent. Now, the rules have tightened: you need a fixed job, a tax record, and an annual haul of at least £12,570 (HK$128,000) for three to five years. That might sound low, but for many Hong Kong BNO holders, it is a high wall to climb. Not everyone is punching the clock in a full-time gig.
The SCMP-cited survey breaks it down. Of the 690 interviewed: 19 percent are housewives, 8 percent are retirees, and 3 percent are students. That is 30 percent of the total population right there. No job, no income, no tax record. If the Home Office sticks to the letter of the law, this entire group is going to fail the assessment cold.
Even the working class is standing on shaky ground. The data shows that only 42 percent of respondents have full-time jobs, while another 20 percent are scraping by with part-time work. Do the math: stable, salaried Hong Kong BNO holders are not the majority. Many are hustling in "casual work," where income fluctuates wildly and often falls short of the new government mandates.
Speak to anyone on the ground, and they will tell you the housewife trap is real. Families move over with young kids, find they can’t hire help, and suddenly the mother is housebound. It is a forced choice. Even if they pick up part-time shifts to help make ends meet, those meager earnings inevitably miss the strict income targets London has set.
The Wealth Illusion
Then there are the cash-rich, income-poor migrants. These are the folks who sold their Hong Kong properties at the peak, sitting on millions of dollars to fund a quiet life in the UK. Some are retired; others just don’t need to work. They are slowly "pinching" their savings to get by. But under these new rules, their wealth is irrelevant. No employment income means no tax record. And no tax record means they are not getting past the gatekeepers.
Smart professionals are also about to get caught in their own loop. I know of Hong Kong BNO holders who aren't unemployed—they are just working "on the sly," taking remote gigs from Hong Kong to dodge UK taxes. It used to be a clever way to save a buck. Now, it is a liability. Without a UK tax footprint or local employment record, they have technically earned nothing in the eyes of the Home Office. When application time comes, they are going to face big trouble.
The education gap is another ticking time bomb. The survey reveals that 16 percent of respondents only have a secondary education. Let’s be realistic: hitting the B2 English level—roughly A-Level standard—is a pipe dream for this demographic. This single hurdle is going to cull a significant herd of applicants before they even get started.
The Language Barrier: With 16% of surveyed migrants holding only secondary education, the "B2 barrier" for English proficiency is set to trigger a wave of failures.
Panic is setting in as families realize they might be kicked out at the last minute. Distressed and confused, Hong Kong BNO holders are mobilizing. A petition demanding the government lower the bar—keeping the easier B1 English requirement and scrapping the income test—has already gathered 28,000 signatures. They are even planning a protest march for December 6.
Utility Over Humanity
London, sensing the rising heat, offered a vague olive branch yesterday. Officials claim the consultation is not yet finalized and teased a potential transitional arrangement. But do not hold your breath—nobody bothered to explain what that transition actually looks like.
Let’s call this what it is: habitual duplicity. When the chips are down, the British government puts utility first. A sharp analysis in Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao hit the nail on the head: by piling on these conditions, London is downgrading the BNO route from a special humanitarian channel to a high-threshold, ordinary immigration path. It has morphed into a policy demanding economic tribute, not a sanctuary.
The writing is on the wall. Don't expect them to lower the bar for permanent residence. Smart Hong Kong people should know better than to have high expectations.
Lai Ting-yiu
