Claire Lai, the daughter of Chinese political prisoner Jimmy Lai, is urging American-born skier Eileen Gu to bring attention to Jimmy Lai’s case.
“I am writing to you because of your outspoken appreciation for the values that have shaped you. You have frequently expressed how your American upbringing and education instilled in you a sense of purpose and a commitment to using your platform for good,” Claire Lai wrote to Gu in an open letter published Saturday.
Jimmy Lai was reportedly sentenced to 20 years in prison in February for alleged national security offenses — likely a life sentence for the 78-year-old man, who friends say is in frail health.
“After more than five years in solitary confinement, his health is failing rapidly. He is a diabetic with a heart condition, and his remaining time is short,” says Claire Lai of her father, in her letter to Gu. Jimmy Lai published “Apple Daily,” a pro-democracy newspaper, in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Hong Kong authorities reportedly froze the assets of Lai and his company in 2021, forcing the paper to close.
Claire Lai continued her appeal to Gu: “During these Games, you noted that you represent the best of the values you learned in the United States. You have expressed your pride in those values, values I learned from my parents and also hold dear. It is in the spirit of those shared values — freedom of expression, compassion, and the sanctity of the individual — that I ask for your help. My father, Jimmy Lai, has spent his entire life championing those same ideals.” (RELATED: DUKE: Eileen Gu Is A Traitor, And America’s Weak Citizenship Laws Made Her One)
Gold medallist China’s Gu Ailing Eileen celebrates on the podium after winning the freestyle skiing women’s freeski halfpipe final during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Snow Park, in Livigno (Valtellina), on February 22, 2026. (Photo by Jeff PACHOUD / AFP via Getty Images)
Gu has not maintained an apolitical public persona, having voiced support for abortion and Black Lives Matter. But Gu has refrained from publicly commenting on Chinese political affairs. A reporter for the New York Times (NYT) attempted to ask Gu about “the subject of China” during a 2022 interview. Before “any mention of Hong Kong, Uyghurs, the disappearance of the tennis player Peng Shuai and the Women’s Tennis Association’s withdrawal from China — [Gu] glanced at [her agent], who tried to end the interview.”
“I’ll pass,” Gu said. “There’s no need to be divisive. I think everything I do, it’s all about inclusivity. And it’s all about making everybody feel as connected as possible.”
When a reporter for Time Magazine questioned Gu this January on “China’s checkered human-rights record,” including allegations of abuse against the Uyghurs, Gu passed again.
“I haven’t done the research. I don’t think it’s my business. I’m not going to make big claims on my social media,” Gu reportedly said, according to Time. Gu is an international-relations major at Stanford.
“I’m just more of a skeptic when it comes to data in general,” continued Gu. “So it’s not like I can read an article and be like, ‘Oh, well, this must be the truth.’ I need to have a ton of evidence. I need to maybe go to the place, maybe talk to 10 primary-source people who are in a location and have experienced life there. Then I need to go see images. I need to listen to recordings. I need to think about how history affects it. Then I need to read books on how politics affects it. This is a lifelong search.”
Today Jimmy Lai's daughter asked Eileen Gu to advocate for her father's release. She should. Let me add an additional open invitation: if Eileen's defense continues to be "I haven't done the research" or that she needs to talk to "primary source people" about the vast human… pic.twitter.com/EGqkW0lIAx
— Bill Drexel (@bill_drexel) February 23, 2026
An appeal from Jimmy Lai’s daughter seems a prime opportunity to speak to a primary-source person.
“I believe that you — a celebrated member of the Chinese Olympic team and someone deeply respected within Chinese society — could be a catalyst for a humanitarian gesture by the Chinese government,” Claire Lai writes to Gu. (RELATED: Olympic Moms Keep Proving Eileen Gu Is A Selfish Idiot)
Frankly, Gu’s public dissent on Jimmy Lai would likely do little to move the Chinese government. It would probably succeed in casting the skier out of that government’s good graces — meaning, at the very least, a cut to Gu’s paycheck. The Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau was expected to pay Gu and another athlete a combined $6.6 million in 2025, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“In total, Beijing’s sports bureau was set to pay Gu and [Beverly] Zhu nearly 100 million yuan, or $14 million over the past three years,” says the Wall Street Journal.
Gu has yet to publicly acknowledge Claire Lai’s plea. I imagine any response will be a long time coming.
Follow Natalie Sandoval on X: @NatSandovalDC
