FP’s analysis and reporting

When Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington today, there will be many issues on their agenda, from tariffs and trade to artificial intelligence and Taiwan.

But Trump must ensure that China’s human rights crisis is high up on the list, too. Even if the U.S. president is not focused on these issues, others around him—his supporters, advisors, and those in Congress—do care. Trump himself has made promises in the past, such as getting Jimmy Lai out of jail, and has had successes that he can build on, such as securing the release of Ezra Jin Mingri.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington today, there will be many issues on their agenda, from tariffs and trade to artificial intelligence and Taiwan.

But Trump must ensure that China’s human rights crisis is high up on the list, too. Even if the U.S. president is not focused on these issues, others around him—his supporters, advisors, and those in Congress—do care. Trump himself has made promises in the past, such as getting Jimmy Lai out of jail, and has had successes that he can build on, such as securing the release of Ezra Jin Mingri.

While there are too many religious and political prisoners of conscience to raise by name, Trump should demand the release of a number of individuals and address the gravity of the situation: a genocide of the Uyghurs, which was recognized as such by both his administrations, most recently in a State Department statement on Sept. 10 of this year, and the Biden administration; atrocities in Tibet; the intensifying crackdown on Christians; and the dismantling of Hong Kong’s freedoms.

When the two leaders met in Beijing last May, Trump pressed for the release of Jin, a prominent Christian pastor and the founder of Zion Church. Less than two months after that meeting, on the eve of the 250th anniversary of American........

© Foreign Policy