UPDATE 1-UK should make Jimmy Lai's release precondition to closer relations with China, says son

Jimmy Lai's son Sebastien said Britain should make his father's release a precondition to closer relations with China, after the pro-democracy campaigner was found guilty of sedition and collusion by Hong Kong's High Court on Monday.

"It's time to put action behind words and make my father's release a precondition to closer relationships with China," Sebastien Lai told a press conference in London. The verdict against his 78-year old father, who is a British citizen, means he could be jailed for life.

Sebastien said he was "heartbroken" over his father's poor health, and that the China-imposed national security law had been weaponised against someone who "essentially said stuff that they didn't like".