American anti-communist organization Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation on Friday paid its highest homage to jailed Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai for “his lifelong commitment to freedom and democracy in Hong Kong.”

The 73-year-old was presented the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom, becoming the first Hong Kong advocate of democracy to receive the prize. The medal came at the two-year anniversary of the start of the months-long anti-government protests in the city.

“The brutal crushing of dissent in Hong Kong tells the world all it needs to know about the capacity of communist governments to tolerate even the smallest concessions to freedom,” the foundation said in a statement. “The bravery of Jimmy Lai and many other citizens of Hong Kong tell us the human thirst for freedom will never die.”

A non-profit anti-communist organization, the foundation was authorized by the United States Congress soon after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s, with its purpose of “educating Americans about the ideology, history and legacy of communism.”

The foundation offered the highest honor to the pro-democracy publisher “for his lifelong commitment to freedom and democracy in Hong Kong, his dogged opposition to communism and all other forms of tyranny, as well as his determination to fight the CCP’s authoritarian actions no matter the cost,” it said in a statement.

Andrew Bremberg, the foundation’s chairperson, complimented Lai for daring to speak out against the ruling Chinese Communist Party and for fighting for the freedom of Hongkongers, at the cost of putting himself and his family at risk.

“We must continue to work together, using every resource we can, to ensure that beacons of freedom like Hong Kong, and heroes like Jimmy Lai, do not fall captive to communism,” he said.

Lai’s imprisonment was evidence of the party’s determination to eliminate dissidents in the former British colony, Bremberg said.

Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence also praised Lai as a “freedom fighter” on Twitter, saying he felt honored to receive him at the White House in 2019.

“Today, he sits in prison for his support of democracy in Hong Kong & @VoCommunism rightly awarded him their highest honor for his courageous commitment to freedom,” Pence tweeted. “God bless Jimmy Lai.”

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