Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado just scored a White House visit with Trump. But she didn't just heap praise on the "Emperor"—she handed over her freshly minted Nobel Peace Prize. Talk about a cringe-inducing ringkissing.
It's a textbook playbook for currying favor with a kingmaker. Watch closely how this "bootlicking virtuoso" operates, though, and you'll spot three uncanny parallels with Jimmy Lai. She's heading down the same path—straight to becoming another discarded "worthless card" in Trump's deck, left with nothing to show for it.
Machado's Peace Prize presented as a gift to Trump. Textbook bootlicking to win the "Emperor's" backing—straight from Jimmy Lai's playbook.
Masters of the Art
First, both excel at stroking Trump's ego—and neither blinks at dialing up the flattery a hundredfold. Machado mounted that Peace Prize medal in a gilded frame and presented it to Trump with honeyed words: "a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom".
Walking out of the White House clutching a red gift bag emblazoned with Trump's signature, she practically glowed, shouting to supporters: "We can count on President Trump!" Then came the clincher: that the country’s transition would involve “several phases,” with the eventual outcome to be a society that is “profoundly pro-America.”
This kind of sycophancy rings familiar in Hong Kong. Shortly after Trump first took office in January 2017, Jimmy Lai locked onto him as his primary flattery target. That June, when Trump forged a "free trade alliance" with post-Brexit Britain to break from the EU, Lai rushed to pen an article declaring Europe "ossified" and "bullying Trump," while twisting facts to claim Trump wasn't pursuing protectionism. Commentators nailed it then: Lai's relentless "Trump-boosting," piling on endless praise, was all about preserving his status as "America's chief agent."
During the anti-extradition period, Lai elevated Trump to "great saviour" status—the "only hope" for bringing democracy and freedom to China and the Hong Kong Special Administration Region, bordering on religious worship. Lai even wrote that Trump's reelection "would benefit world peace." Those accolades match Machado's recent praise of Trump as "the great benefactor saving Venezuela" word for word.
All Chips on Trump
Second, both went all-in on Trump, staking everything on him. After her White House meeting, Machado told supporters, "We can count on Trump" —in other words, she's banking on Trump to install her as Venezuela's president.
After the Hong Kong National Security Law took effect, Lai pinned even bigger hopes on Trump, believing that if the "Emperor" acted, Beijing would buckle. So Lai told his subordinates that both he and Apple Daily depended on Trump for survival, and no news unfavorable to Trump's campaign could be published.
Third, both believed themselves to be Trump's "trump card," oblivious to the fact that in Trump's mind, they're just useless "worthless cards." After snagging the Peace Prize, Machado rode high, eagerly hoping to return home and seize power. Trump threw ice-cold water on that dream, publicly stating she'd struggle to become Venezuela's leader because she lacks sufficient domestic support. Translation: she's not the chosen one—he won't help her ascend to power.
Trump's Realpolitik
According to inside sources, Machado got dumped primarily because US intelligence officials and senior government figures, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, all concluded she's not the right person to govern. Forcing her into power would intensify Venezuela's internal chaos—contrary to US interests in taking control. Trump's a 100% pragmatist who values oil over promoting democracy. What matters most is stable transition, so he heeded his advisors' counsel, discarded Machado, and chose acting President Delcy Rodríguez instead.
Jimmy Lai's fate follows an eerily similar script. Trump recently told a right-wing podcaster that he'd already raised Lai's case with President Xi in Busan, adding "I'll leave it to him to decide"—essentially saying, I've done my bit, whatever happens next isn't my business. Close observers interpret this to mean that for Trump, the Lai card no longer holds much bargaining value—it's now a useless "worthless card." Sound familiar? That's strikingly similar to Machado's current predicament.
Lai bet everything on Trump to save him. Wrong bet. He's just a "worthless card." Now Machado's learning the same hard lesson.
Here's the interesting part: when discussing both Machado and Lai, Trump still pays lip service, calling both "very wonderful people," leaving himself room to maneuver. But their fate of being abandoned won't change because of those kind words.
Lai Ting-yiu
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** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
The most consequential national security trial yet to come is also the one with the most unanswered questions — and at the centre of it is a man who almost made it out.
Monday (Feb 23) was "Renri" (人日) — the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, meant to be a day of celebration for all people. But for the 12 defendants in the "35+ Subversion Case," there was nothing to celebrate. The Court of Appeal dismissed all their appeals against both conviction and sentencing in full. Unless they push it all the way to the Court of Final Appeal, this case is done. That brings two of the three major national security cases to a close — the other being the Jimmy Lai trial. What remains is the Joshua Wong case, expected to go to trial around mid-year. Like Lai's, it reaches into the highest levels of American politics, and it will almost certainly expose a trove of behind-the-scenes dealings that will shake Hong Kong to its core. The trial is close enough that the details don't need spelling out here. But one mystery absolutely does: Wong was once Washington's darling — so why did he never make it out, while his co-conspirator Nathan Law did? An investigative report by American journalists cracked open the story.
Wong's trial is the last big national security case standing — and the most explosive one yet. How did he never make it out?
Wong's role in the Occupy Central movement and the 2019 unrest needs no introduction. In June last year, while already serving a prison term at Stanley Prison on sedition charges, he was arrested again and charged under the Hong Kong National Security Law with conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security. His second pre-trial review at the Magistrates' Court came on 21 November last year, with the next hearing set for 6 March; the full trial at the High Court is expected to begin around mid-year. This case carries weight every bit as significant as the Jimmy Lai trial — the spotlight it commands will be enormous.
The Charges Are Grave
The prosecution alleges that between July and November 2020, Wong — together with Nathan Law and others yet to be identified — conspired in Hong Kong to solicit foreign governments and institutions to impose sanctions against the Hong Kong SAR and the People's Republic of China, and to seriously obstruct the government in enacting and enforcing its laws and policies. The charges carry a potential sentence of life imprisonment. What exactly Wong and Law did, and which foreign officials were involved, the prosecution will lay out in full when the trial begins.
The public has long asked some uncomfortable questions. Did Joshua Wong ever consider fleeing before or after the National Security Law came into force at the end of June 2020? If so, why did it never happen? Did the US government try to help him get out? An investigative report by two American journalists answered part of the puzzle — and sources familiar with the matter, when contacted by Hong Kong media, broadly confirmed what it said.
Wong Begged Washington for Help
The night before the National Security Law took effect, Wong reached out through a senator's adviser to appeal directly to President Trump for help. At the same time, he sent an email to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, explicitly asking to be helped to "travel to the United States to seek political asylum, by whatever means necessary". That email tells you everything. Wong knew exactly how dangerous his situation had become — and he was betting his future on American goodwill.
Around the same time, Wong arranged to meet two officials from the US Consulate General in Hong Kong at St. John's Building, directly across the street from the consulate. He made clear he wanted to walk in and seek refuge. He was turned away on the spot. When Pompeo saw the email, he consulted with his staff and arrived at the same conclusion: letting Wong through the consulate doors was simply not an option — Washington feared Beijing would retaliate by forcing the US consulate in Hong Kong to close entirely.
State Department officials went further, exploring a covert plan to smuggle Wong out of Hong Kong by sea — routing him through Taiwan or the Philippines before eventually reaching the United States. That option was killed too, on the grounds that any such attempt would very likely be intercepted by Chinese authorities, triggering a diplomatic crisis. When the accounting was done, American interests won out — and Joshua Wong was coldly abandoned.
By that point, Nathan Law had already made it out. Seizing Pompeo's visit to London, Law met the Secretary of State privately and raised the question of rescuing Wong one more time — and was once again turned away without sympathy. In September 2020, Wong was arrested on sedition charges and imprisoned two months later. Any remaining window for escape had sealed shut.
Law Moved Fast — and Made It
Nathan Law is named as a co-conspirator in the charges against Wong — meaning that if arrested, they face the same jeopardy. But Law proved far more calculating than Wong. Shortly before the National Security Law took effect, he quietly slipped away, eventually confirming his presence in the United Kingdom on 13 July 2020. He even staged a moment of wistful sentiment, declaring: "With this parting, I do not yet know when I shall return... May glory come soon!" — words that, in the circumstances, could not have sounded more hollow.
Same charges, same case — but Law ran, and Wong didn't. One man made it out clean. The other is still paying the price.
Joshua Wong — sharp-witted all his life — took one step too many in trusting the Americans, and that delay cost him everything. The US government, in the name of "national interest," discarded him without hesitation. As his trial approaches, the reality is this: placing any further faith in American support would be the last illusion he can afford.
Lai Ting-yiu
