Trump says he will ask Chinese president to release Jimmy Lai: ‘It’s on my list’

CNA Staff, Oct 25, 2025 / 11:00 am

President Donald Trump on Oct. 24 indicated that he would ask Chinese President Xi Jinping about the possible release of long-imprisoned Catholic activist Jimmy Lai, suggesting he may bring pressure on the communist country's leadership to allow Lai to walk free ahead of his likely conviction in a national security trial.

Asked by EWTN News White House Correspondent Owen Jensen if he planned to speak with Xi on the topic of Lai, Trump — who was boarding Marine One at the White House en route to Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland — responded: “I might do that, yeah.” Trump is scheduled to meet with Xi next week.

Earlier in the day a bipartisan group of senators, including Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, published an open letter urging Trump to use his meeting with Xi to advocate for Lai’s release. Trump on Friday acknowledged that letter.

“Well, I have a lot of respect for Rick Scott. And a lot of them that are asking me to do that,” he said. “And it’s on my list. I’m gonna ask.”

“Look, they’re big enemies,” he said of Lai and Xi. “But we’ll see what happens, you know. Jimmy Lai, Jimmy Lai and President Xi are big enemies but it’s been a long time and I will be … it’ll be on my list.”

Lai ‘must be released immediately,’ senators say

In their Oct. 24 letter, the U.S. senators — including Republicans Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz along with Democrats Tim Kaine and Raphael Warnock — praised Trump’s “outspoken advocacy” for Lai. The president earlier this year vowed to do “everything [he] can” 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 dire than ever, which is why this must be addressed at the highest possible level,” the senators wrote. They noted reports of Lai’s ongoing poor health and the threat that he may die in prison.

“We have great confidence that, should 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.

Advocates of Lai have for years called for his release from prison. A longtime activist and advocate of democracy, Lai 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.

Supporters have argued that China is targeting Lai for his criticism of communist politics and his support for 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 failed to release Lai.

That same year a global group of Catholic bishops and archbishops called for his release, arguing that his legal trials under the communist government had “gone on long enough.”

Lai has received multiple awards and accolades for his advocacy, including this year the 2025 Bradley Prize.