Hugh Hewitt Urges Xi Jinping to Free Jimmy Lai Ahead of Trump Summit

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping holds complete control over the People's Republic of China, the world's second most powerful nation. As dictator-for-life of the country closest to the United States in economic and military strength, Xi has shown total dominance in numerous ways.

Xi faces President Donald Trump at an upcoming summit. Trump commands more power than Xi, though his term ends in less than three years while Xi's lasts until death. A weaker leader will likely take over the U.S. government in January 2029.

Xi has little reason to show flexibility next week beyond projecting strength. Yet two factors might prompt concessions.

First, releasing high-profile prisoners like Jimmy Lai, once a major media figure in Hong Kong, could soften global views of Xi's ruthlessness. Lai's jailing highlights Xi's suppression of dissent and its cost to his image in the free world.

Xi ignores such perceptions, as seen in his treatment of the Uyghurs. Still, concern over history's judgment or a deity's view might motivate a gesture of mercy on this global stage.

Jimmy Lai is not alone. Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri and dozens of other named political prisoners fill Xi's cells. Freeing any would force historians to note a trace of humanity. Does Xi care, or has he grown indifferent like Vladimir Putin?

Second, Xi might grant Trump a win by exiling Lai and others via Air Force One. Trump could weigh concessions against this achievement on human rights. Even a refusal would reveal Xi's stance on one man's fate.

Releases matter more in free societies than totalitarian ones. Free populations might notice mercy, but it rarely shifts their nations' paths.

History notes such acts. Hitler executed Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Nikita Khrushchev freed Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn from internal exile in 1956. Leonid Brezhnev sent him west. Mikhail Gorbachev released Natan Sharansky.

Hugh Hewitt, a Fox News contributor and host of The Hugh Hewitt Show on the Salem Radio Network, wrote this opinion column.