By Leif Le Mahieu Published July 6, 2026 A Christian pastor imprisoned for months reunited with his family after the Chinese Communist Party released him following pressure from President Donald Trump. Pastor Mingri “Ezra” Jin, the leader of one of the largest underground church networks in China, landed in the United States on the Fourth of July and was greeted by his family. Trump pushed Chinese President Xi Jinping to release Jin during his trip to China in May. “We truly witnessed a miracle ... Read more

By Elizabeth Ervin Published July 6, 2026 Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., introduced a House resolution June 30 condemning a new Chinese Communist Party (CCP) law that he says gives the Chinese government unprecedented legal authority to replace distinct ethnic and religious identities with a single party-defined national identity. In a July 1 press release, Smith, co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said House Resolution1400 condemns the CCP's Law on the Promotion of Ethnic U... Read more

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), issued the following statement welcoming the release of Pastor Ezra Jin after his unjust detention by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP): “I am profoundly grateful that Pastor Ezra Jin has been released and reunited with his family. I especially thank President Trump for personally raising Pastor Jin’s case with CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping and for ensuring that U.S. diplomats remained committ... Read more

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the Co-Chair of both the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) and the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), introduced legislation condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) intensified repression of ethnic and religious minorities, as well as Beijing’s new law—the so-called Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress—scheduled to take effect on July 1st. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) is the lead Democrat on the resolution. The Smith-McGovern re... Read more

By Eva Fu & Dorothy Li Published July 1, 2026 WASHINGTON—House lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a bipartisan resolution condemning China’s new ethnic unity law, saying it will expand the regime’s efforts to enforce the regime’s ideology internationally and eliminate cultural and religious rights. The measure by Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) comes amid growing concerns in Congress about the Chinese law, which allows Beijing to target people in the United States and beyond. ... Read more

By The Catholic Herald Published July 1, 2026 at 9:00 PM In this episode of In Conversation With, Mary Margaret Olohan sits down with Congressman Chris Smith, the New Jersey Republican who has co-chaired the House Pro-Life Caucus for decades and spent forty six years in Congress on three fronts he treats as one fight: the unborn, the trafficked, and the religiously persecuted. Smith is not a man in doubt. He describes hate mail, bullhorn protests and death threats as the ordinary cost of the pro... Read more

The following are excerpts of Co-Chairman Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) opening statement at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission’s June 30th hearing, entitled “Human Rights in Turkish-Occupied Cyprus: Erdoğan’s Record & Its Implications for the Ankara NATO Summit”: Good morning, and welcome to today’s hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on “Human Rights in Turkish-Occupied Cyprus: Erdoğan’s Record and Its Implications for the Ankara NATO Summit.” This hearing follows another, which I ch... Read more

At a Capitol Hill hearing chaired by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), expert witnesses detailed the declining human rights situation in Northern Cyprus since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rose to power 23 years ago. “During these 23 years, no territory neighboring Turkey has provided a clearer window into Erdoğan’s worldview, his ambitions, and his approach to power than Cyprus,” said Smith during his opening statement. “Cyprus serves... Read more

By Iona Cleave Published June 26, 2026 at 10:00 AM BST In a drab office block in Manhattan’s Chinatown, sandwiched between a ramen bar and a supermarket, the long arm of the Chinese state had been hiding in plain sight. A banner on one of its wall identified it as “The Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station”. In the first case of its kind, the man accused of running the first known Chinese outpost on American soil was convicted of acting as an “illegal foreign agent” on May 13. US prosecutors sa... Read more

On Tuesday, June 30th, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), will chair a congressional hearing on the worsening human rights situation in Cyprus following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rise to power. The hearing will examine the Government of Turkey’s Cyprus policies under President Erdoğan within the broader trends of foreign policy—including the human rights and humanitarian implications relating to nationalism—the ongoing closure of ... Read more