President Donald Trump also confirmed that he raised the case of Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy publisher imprisoned in Hong Kong, during his China visit.
By Catholics for Catholics
After spending the last five years in prison, a pro-democracy Hong Kong publisher may have a tougher time being freed by the regime of Chinese leader Xi Jinping than a jailed pastor, said President Donald Trump.
“I think he’s giving very serious consideration to the pastor,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on May 15, when asked whether he and Xi discussed political prisoners in China and their potential release, according to a story by The Epoch Times.
Trump confirmed that he also raised Jimmy Lai’s case during the visit, but that the Chinese leader described it as “a tougher one.”
“He said Jimmy Lai is a tough one for him,” Trump said. “He went through a lot.”
Lai has been a vocal critic of the communist regime. He has been kept behind bars for more than five years in Hong Kong.
Arrested in 2020 after months of pro-democracy protests, Lai is one of the first pro-democracy advocates arrested under the draconian national security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong.
.@POTUS tells reporters he discussed Pastor Ezra Jin and Jimmy Lai with President Xi:
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 15, 2026
"I think he's giving very serious consideration to the pastor… he said Jimmy Lai is a tough one for him to do." pic.twitter.com/9udaXxszxy
In February, Hong Kong’s High Court handed down a 20-year prison term to Lai.
However, Lai’s supporters have hoped that the summit between Trump and Jinping could help free the 78-year-old publisher, whose health has worsened after a long solitary confinement, according to his family.
Lai’s long jail term also reignited global concerns about Beijing’s assault on the city’s declining freedoms of speech and the press, which the Chinese regime promised to keep untouched for half a century when the UK handed the city over to Beijing in 1997.
When asked, Trump didn’t name the pastor, but according to The Epoch Times, he is likely referring to Ezra Jin Mingri, the founder of China’s largest underground church, Zion Church, who has been jailed since October 2025 in a sweeping suppression spanning five cities. He was accused of “illegally using information networks,” a charge that could lead to a prison sentence of up to three years.
Save and Share This Catholic Patriotic Minute!
