By Catie Edmondson
Published May 13, 2026

             Human rights activists, lawmakers and family members are calling on President Trump to press China’s leader, Xi Jinping, for the release of Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy media mogul, and Dong Yuyu, a prominent Chinese journalist, at the summit in Beijing.

             Supporters have framed the meeting as a critical opportunity for Mr. Trump to use his leverage to win the freedom of prominent members of the press and religious leaders who have been jailed, amid a broader crackdown by the Chinese government to eliminate dissenting views.

             Mr. Lai, 78, was sentenced in February to 20 years in prison, in the culmination of Beijing’s yearslong effort to undercut the Hong Kong publisher whom it blamed for leading major antigovernment protests in the city nearly seven years ago.

Jimmy Lai at his home in Hong Kong in 2020. He was sentenced in February to 20 years in prison after Beijing blamed the Hong Kong publisher for leading the city’s major protests nearly seven years ago. Credit...Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

             “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. “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 writer who has expressed support for the rule of law and constitutional democracy. In 2024 he was sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage charges. He was recently diagnosed with what appears to be lung cancer, adding urgency to calls for his release.

             “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, said in a statement. “His advanced age and the harsh conditions of his imprisonment make this an imperative.”

             Supporters also hope Mr. Trump will push for the release of Jin Mingri, a Christian pastor who also goes by the name Ezra and was detained in China last October as part of a major crackdown on Christians in the country.

             It remains to be seen whether Mr. Trump and other U.S. officials will present their Chinese counterparts with a list of detainees or prisoners they would like released. But Mr. Trump has said he will press the cases of Mr. Lai and Mr. Jin. He acknowledged in Washington earlier this week that winning Mr. Lai’s release could be difficult.

             Mr. Trump said 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 F.B.I. 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 U.S. 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,” according to a U.S. readout of the summit. President George W. Bush said in 2008 that he “constantly” discussed human rights and political freedom with the Chinese leader, 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 lawmakers, 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 lawmakers — 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.


This article was published on May 13, 2026 and can be found online at: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/world/asia/jimmy-lai-trump-china-xi-hong-kong.html