The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on the U.S. Congress and the Trump administration to “resolutely demand” for the release of jailed Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai, ahead of a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
U.S. authorities must use “all available diplomatic means and opportunities” to secure Lai’s freedom, whose health is declining behind bars, CPJ said in a statement submitted to a September 16 hearing held by the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), which advises Congress, about Lai.
The 78-year-old publisher’s son, Sebastien, testified at the hearing. Xi is due to meet with Trump at the White House on September 24.
Separately, CPJ joined 29 other human rights groups in urging the Chinese leader to free prisoners of conscience, including Lai and veteran Chinese journalist Dong Yuyu ahead of his U.S. visit, as well as abolishing repressive laws such as Hong Kong’s national security law.
CPJ has campaigned for the release of both Lai and Dong and honored them for their commitment to journalism. China consistently ranks as the world’s worst jailer of journalists, with at least 50 journalists behind bars, according to CPJ’s latest data.
Lai, CPJ’s 2021 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award winner and founder of the pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for collusion with foreign forces and sedition in February.
Dong, winner of CPJ’s 2025 International Press Freedom Award and a former editor at the state-owned Guangming Daily, is serving a seven-year prison sentence for espionage. CPJ has pressed for his release, especially after a tumor was found in his lung in April.
Read the full statement to the CECC here, and the joint open letter to Xi here.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.
Committee to Protect Journalists | Radio Free (2026-09-17T14:04:03+00:00) CPJ urges US Congress, Trump to press for Jimmy Lai’s release ahead of Xi visit. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2026/09/17/cpj-urges-us-congress-trump-to-press-for-jimmy-lais-release-ahead-of-xi-visit/
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