The U.S. religious freedom watchdog is urging President Donald Trump to raise with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at their upcoming summit the cases of prisoners detained in China because of their faith.
Trump “boldly demonstrated” to Xi during their May summit that the United States “stands for religious freedom,” Asif Mahmood, the commission’s chair, said in a statement on Sept. 14.
“Speaking up again sends a clear and consistent signal that religious freedom for all is a priority for the United States and that it expects the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] to respect its population rather than persecute millions for practicing their faith.”
In an interview with The Associated Press, Jin said that before his unexpected release, he had resigned himself to spending at least 15 years in prison. He called his release “a miracle” and credited Trump’s “unique diplomacy” for helping secure his freedom.
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According to the commission, eight Zion Church leaders, including Wang Lin and Wu Qiuyu, remain detained and their names have been added to the Victims List.
Texas-based advocacy group China Aid reported Sept. 10 that the eight were being held at two detention centers in southern China’s Guangxi region, where they, according to their family members, face inadequate medical care and harsh disciplinary practices.
Commission Vice Chair CeCe Heil said Jin’s release showed that Xi “has the power to release FoRB prisoners if he so desires” and has an “obligation to do so under international law,” according to a statement.
“USCIRF also asks President Trump to urge the Chinese government to provide a passport to U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident, Pastor John Cao and allow him to reunite with his family and seek urgent medical treatment in the United States,” Heil added.
Heil, who is also senior counsel and international legal director for the American Center for Law and Justice, noted in an article published in August that Cao had recently been diagnosed with stage-4 cancer. She also noted that Chinese authorities had withheld Cao’s passport despite his release from prison in March 2024, preventing him from returning to the United States to reunite with his family and seek medical treatment.
At the time of writing, 2,778 individuals are on the Victims List, including 897 from China.
The 897 individuals from China include 208 Falun Gong practitioners, 201 Muslims, 101 Buddhists, and 76 Protestants.
The CCP, fearing that Falun Gong’s popularity threatened the regime’s power, began a brutal campaign to eradicate the practice in July 1999. Many have since been detained in prisons, labor camps, re-education camps, and other facilities, while being subjected to inhumane treatment including torture, forced labor, and forced organ harvesting.
