Activists, Lawmakers Urge Trump to Call for Release of Jimmy Lai and Dong Yuyu
Human rights activists, legislators and members of the family are calling on President Trump to press China’s chief, Xi Jinping, for the discharge of Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy media mogul, and Dong Yuyu, a outstanding Chinese journalist, on the summit in Beijing.
Supporters have framed the assembly as a crucial alternative for Mr. Trump to use his leverage to win the liberty of outstanding members of the press and spiritual leaders who’ve been jailed, amid a broader crackdown by the Chinese authorities to eradicate dissenting views.
Mr. Lai, 78, was sentenced in February to 20 years in prisonwithin the fruits of Beijing’s yearslong effort to undercut the Hong Kong writer whom it blamed for main main antigovernment protests within the metropolis almost seven years in the past.
“President Trump has mentioned his commitment to freeing my father a number of times,” Claire Lai, Mr. Lai’s daughter, said on Newsmax on Wednesday night time. “Of course I know it’s not an easy task, but I believe if anyone can do it, President Trump can.”
Mr. Dong, 64, is a prolific editor and author who has expressed help for the rule of regulation and constitutional democracy. In 2024 he was sentenced to seven years in jail on espionage fees. He was not too long ago recognized with what seems to be lung most cancers, including urgency to calls for his launch.
“Dong Yuyu requires immediate attention for a fast-growing lung tumor and a host of other medical concerns,” Beh Lih Yi, the Asia-Pacific director for the Committee to Protect Journalists, mentioned in an announcement. “His advanced age and the harsh conditions of his imprisonment make this an imperative.”
Supporters additionally hope Mr. Trump will push for the discharge of Jin Mingri, a Christian pastor who additionally goes by the title Ezra and was detained in China final October as half of a significant crackdown on Christians within the nation.
It stays to be seen whether or not Mr. Trump and different US officers will current their Chinese counterparts with a listing of detainees or prisoners they want launched. But Mr. Trump has mentioned he’ll press the circumstances of Mr. Lai and Mr. Jin. He acknowledged in Washington earlier this week that profitable Mr. Lai’s launch may very well be troublesome.
Mr. Trump mentioned Mr. Lai had “caused a lot of bedlam.”
“It’s like saying to me, ‘If Comey ever went to jail, would you let him out?’ Might be a hard one for me,” he added, referring to James B. Comey, the former FBI director, whom Mr. Trump has repeatedly attacked and was indicted last month over a social media post.
He said Mr. Lai had “tried to do the right thing” and added “I’ll bring him up again.” Mr. Trump has appeared primarily focused on economic deals with China, showing less appetite for wading into the human rights issues that US presidents have raised at previous summits in Beijing.
When President Joseph R. Biden Jr. met with Mr. Xi in California in 2023, he “raised concerns regarding PRC human rights abuses, including in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong,” in accordance to a US readout of the summit. President George W. Bush mentioned in 2008 that he “constantly” mentioned human rights and political freedom with the Chinese chief, Hu Jintao.
Mr. Trump is also facing calls from several Republican members of Congress, many of them longtime China hawks, to press for Mr. Lai’s freedom. Late last week, more than 100 legislators, including the Senate majority and minority leaders, implored Mr. Trump in a bipartisan letter to use the summit to call for Mr. Lai’s release.
The legislators — led by Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey and Senator Rick Scott of Florida, both Republicans — urged a renewed appeal for Mr. Lai, citing his declining health and the fact that this is Mr. Trump’s first meeting with Mr. Xi since Mr. Lai’s legal proceedings concluded in March.
Mr. Smith called the meeting “an incredible, rare opportunity to speak to Xi, face-to-face” on Mr. Lai’s behalf.
Edward Wong contributed reporting.
