Trump says he raised Jimmy Lai case with Xi but calls it a tough one

Asked before he left for Beijing whether he would raise the case of jailed Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai with President Xi Jinping, Donald Trump said he would. He then compared the request to freeing former FBI director James Comey, a frequent target of his criticism. “It’s like saying to me, ‘If Comey ever went to jail, would you let him out?’ It might be a hard one for me,” Trump said.

The comment reflects a broader shift. Since Trump took office, human rights have largely disappeared from official US-China talks. Previous presidents raised the issue publicly. George W. Bush attended a church service in Beijing in 2008 to press for religious freedom. Barack Obama urged Hu Jintao to reopen talks with the Dalai Lama.

Those public stands, even when the US record itself drew criticism, gave Chinese activists some leverage. In 2012 the Obama administration helped evacuate blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng after he escaped house arrest. Thomas Kellogg, executive director of Georgetown University’s Center for Asian Law, said US officials have told him that raising individual cases has improved prison conditions or reduced harassment for some detainees.

Under Xi Jinping, who took power in 2012, authorities have tightened controls on civil society, feminist groups and religious expression. The government built a network of re-education camps in Xinjiang that held up to one million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities, policies the UN said could amount to crimes against humanity. Beijing denies the charge.

Sophie Richardson of Chinese Human Rights Defenders said no democratic government has kept pace with the crackdown. During Trump’s first term, officials including Mike Pompeo and Matt Pottinger sanctioned Chinese officials over abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Current secretary of state Marco Rubio was himself sanctioned by Beijing for his criticism of those policies.

Those officials have since been sidelined. Trump has praised Xi and expressed admiration for his leadership. At the summit he told the Chinese leader it was “an honour to be your friend.”

China has grown less responsive to outside criticism. A 2021 State Council report listed US human rights violations and opened with George Floyd’s last words. Lawyer Ren Quanniu said many Chinese now view US statements as driven by “hostile foreign forces.”

Trump told Fox News after the talks that he had raised both Lai’s case and the detention of several pastors. He said Xi was “seriously considering” freeing the pastors. Grace Jin Drexel, whose father Ezra Jin is among those held, welcomed the news. On Lai, Trump said the matter remained “a tough one.”