President Donald Trump indicated on October 24 that he would ask Chinese President Xi Jinping about the possible release by Catholic activist Jimmy Lailong imprisoned, suggesting he could pressure the communist country’s leaders to allow Lai to be free before his likely conviction in a national security trial.
Asked by EWTN News White House correspondent Owen Jensen if he planned to talk to Xi about the Lai issue, Trump — who was boarding Marine One at the White House en route to Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland — responded: “I could do that, yes.” Trump is scheduled to meet with Xi next week.
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Earlier in the day, a bipartisan group of senators, including Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., published an open letter urging Trump to use his meeting with Xi to advocate for Lai’s release. Trump confirmed on Friday that he had received the letter.
“Well, I have a lot of respect for Rick Scott. And a lot of those who are asking me to do that,” he said. “And it’s on my list. I’m going to ask,” he added.
“Look, they are great enemies,” he said of Lai and Xi. “But we’ll see what happens, you know. Jimmy Lai and President Xi are great enemies, but it’s been a long time and it will be on my list,” commented the American president.
Senators say Lai ‘must be released immediately’
In their Oct. 24 letter, U.S. senators — including Republicans Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz, along with Democrats Tim Kaine and Raphael Warnock — praised Trump’s “open advocacy” for Lai.
The president He got engaged in early August. to do “everything I could” to “save” Lai, who has been imprisoned for years and convicted of numerous charges, including fraud and unlawful assembly.
“The humanitarian case for Mr. Lai’s release is stronger and more serious than ever, so this must be addressed at the highest level possible,” the senators wrote. They noted reports of Lai’s current poor health and the threat that he could die in prison.
“We have great confidence that if you, as the leader of the free world, raise Jimmy Lai’s case, President Xi will understand the importance of releasing Jimmy Lai now, before it is too late,” the lawmakers said.
Lai’s advocates have called for his release from prison for years. Lai, a longtime democracy activist and advocate, was first arrested in 2020 under China’s then-new national security law and has been arrested and convicted on numerous other charges since then.
His supporters have argued that China is attacking Lai for his criticism of communist policy and his support of democratic values. Lai himself pleaded not guilty to charges of violating the national security law.
Lai, who converted to Catholicism in 1997, has received global support amid his imprisonment and trials. A congressional commission in 2023 urged the United States government to sanction Hong Kong prosecutors and judges if they did not release Lai.
That same year, a global group of Catholic bishops and archbishops asked for his releasearguing that his legal trials under the communist government had “gone too long.”
Lai has received multiple awards and recognitions for his advocacy, including the Bradley Prize 2025.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.
Daniel Payne
Daniel Payne is senior editor at Catholic News Agency. He previously worked at College Fix and Just the News. He lives in Virginia with his family.