United States Must Seek Release of Prisoners and Prioritize Human Rights in China in Summit with Xi Jinping

 (LONDON, September 22, 2026)—United States President Donald J. Trump must prioritize the release of political and religious prisoners of conscience detained in China when he hosts China’s leader Xi Jinping at a summit in Washington, DC this week, and demand China respects freedom of religion and expression, Fortify Rights said today.

The U.S. President should seek the release of jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, aged 78, imprisoned pastors from the Zion Church in mainland China, Chinese student Tara Zhang Yadi, arrested for promoting understanding of Tibetan culture, and Uyghur prisoners such as Dr. Ilham Tohti, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, and Ekpar Asat, as well as Chinese human rights defenders such as Dr Wang Bingzhang, Swedish national Gui Minhai, and Myanmar-born U.S. citizen Min Zin, arrested in China in June this year.

“President Trump must prioritize the release of human rights defenders, prisoners of conscience, religious leaders and scholars unjustly detained in China when he receives China’s leader Xi Jinping in Washington, DC this week,” said Benedict Rogers, Senior Director at Fortify Rights. “While there will be many issues on the agenda for the bilateral summit, human rights must be central to the dialogue and President Trump must demand greater respect for freedom of religion and expression in China. The U.S. administration must deliver a clear message: bilateral relations cannot improve while there are religious or political prisoners behind bars in China simply for peacefully exercising their basic rights to freedom of religion or expression.”

China must immediately and unconditionally release all political and religious prisoners of conscience, as well as all individuals subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention, or enforced disappearance, and end its severe restrictions on freedom of religion and expression. In addition  to the cases mentioned above, which Fortify Rights has investigated, documented and conducted advocacy on, other cases to highlight include that of Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, potentially facing a life sentence in prison for peaceful advocacy, Hong Kong lawyers Chow Hang-tung and Albert Ho and trade unionist Lee Cheuk-yan, jailed for organizing peaceful candle-lit vigils to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, Christian Pastor Wang Li, journalist Sophia Huang Xueqin, lawyer and citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, and human rights defender Ding Jiaxi. Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who disappeared nine years ago, and Tibet’s 11th Panchen Lama, kidnapped and disappeared in 1995 together with his parents and siblings, must also be on the agenda for the summit.

President Trump should seek the release of Tibetan prisoners such as Lhundrub Drakpa, a popular Tibetan signer serving a six-year prison sentence for a song which criticizes the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Dorje Tashi, a prominent entrepreneur and former CCP member arrested in July 2008 and sentenced to life imprisonment, and Tibetan Buddhist monks Jamyang Lekshey, abbot of Yena Monastery, and Gonpo Tsering, a monk at Yena Monastery, arrested in February 2024 and sentenced to four years and three years imprisonment respectively after peaceful protests against China’s proposed Kamtok Dam. The release of other Uyghur prisoners such as Professor Rahile Dawat, a respected anthropologist and expert on Uyghur culture sentenced to life imprisonment, and Yalqun Rozi, a Uyghur author, literary critic, editor and publisher sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment, should also be sought.
 
These individuals and others represent examples of arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and denial of freedom of expression, freedom of religion or belief, freedom of association and freedom of assembly, in violation of international human rights laws. President Trump should demand greater respect for these basic rights in China as a condition for improved U.S.-China relations.
 
Under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which China has signed but not yet ratified, China has an obligation to respect basic human rights, including ceasing arbitrary arrests and detention. As a signatory and a party to the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and other international agreements, the People’s Republic of China has an obligation to protect and respect human rights.

“Over the past two years, Fortify Rights has persistently documented  and reported the cases of many human rights defenders, dissidents and religious leaders jailed in China, all of whom deserve urgent international action,” said Benedict Rogers. “We urge President Trump to provide Xi Jinping with a comprehensive list of the religious and political prisoners the United States would like to see released. We also call on the United States to address the wider human rights concerns, especially regarding repressive legislation, accountability for mass atrocity crimes, and transnational repression. The list is long, the time is short, and so it is vital that the President maximises the moment and seeks to free those unjustly detained.”