During his summit with China’s Xi Jinping this month, US President Donald Trump said he had taken two prisoners – Christian pastor Ezra Jin Mingri and Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai.
Mingri is the founder of Zion Protestant Church, one of China’s largest underground churches, who was arrested in 2025.
Lai, meanwhile, was sentenced in February to 20 years in prison for treason over foreign collusion and ownership of the now defunct, pro-democracy group. apple daily Newspaper.
In his remarks to reporters on May 15, Trump said Xi had said he would “strongly consider the pastor.” But after the US president pointed out that his Chinese counterpart had described Lai’s case as a “tough case”, Trump acknowledged that he “doesn’t feel optimistic” about it.
Trump claims support but progress is slow
Afterwards, the families of both Jin and Lai thanked Trump and the White House for their support in such a closely watched summit.
“We are really grateful that the president mentioned my father in such an important meeting,” Grace Jin Drexel, Pastor Jin’s daughter, told DW.
Lai’s daughter Claire Lai also thanked the Trump administration “for their commitment to my father’s release” as she received Lai’s Freedom Award from Freedom House last week.
However, since Trump’s comments, there have been no further updates from Washington or Beijing.
“We have not heard any other developments beyond what has been made public,” Drexel said. “I have confidence in the administration and all its employees [Trump] The Cabinet is following.”
With Trump inviting Xi to the White House in September, advocacy groups see that upcoming visit as an opportunity to pressure the Chinese leader to release political prisoners.
“We in the activist community are very focused on Xi Jinping’s visit,” Mark Clifford, chairman of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong and former director of Lai’s publisher Next Digital, told DW. “Although Trump tried to lower expectations, he never said it was impossible.”
Pastor Zinn’s family remains ‘cautiously optimistic’
Jin and 17 Zion Church members have been detained in Guangxi, China since the government arrested 29 people in October 2025. The pastor was accused of “illegally using information networks” to evangelize online in the unregistered underground Protestant church, which operates outside government control.
Drexel said his father is “not doing well in prison” and that Jin has diabetes. As Trump said Xi was considering releasing the pastor, Drexel remained “cautiously optimistic.”
“This is all very new, and I don’t think anyone has really formulated it or has a playbook for it,” he said. “China is historically a very difficult country in terms of releasing other prisoners.”
According to Drexel, Jin has told Chinese officials that if released he would be willing to retire from the church and move to the United States.
As for the 17 other detained church members, Drexel had “no idea how the final round of negotiations would go.” He said, “Ideally, if my father is released, there is no reason why the rest should also be in jail.”
Jimmy Lai’s supporters call for prisoner exchange
Lai, 78, of Hong Kong, has been in custody since his arrest in 2020. Lai is one of the most prominent public figures to be imprisoned under the national security law imposed by China, which has silenced dissent in Hong Kong.
Lai was honored by DW with the Freedom of Speech Award earlier this year for his defense of press freedom.
This month’s Beijing summit was the second time Trump mentioned Lai’s case to Xi, after first raising the issue in Busan, South Korea, last year.
“I see this issue becoming more and more popular,” Clifford said. “This is not going to end, and September is the next target.”
Clifford told DW that Lai could be part of a prisoner swap, comparing his case to when Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou postponed extradition from Canada to the US in 2021 in what was widely seen as a de facto exchange for two Canadians detained in China. Beijing has denied that the cases were linked.
Clifford also pointed to a rare prisoner swap in 2024 following an agreement between Xi and Trump’s predecessor, former President Joe Biden.
Alexandra Bialkowska, Asia-Pacific advocacy manager for Reporters Without Borders, sees Xi’s September visit to Washington as an opportunity to renew efforts to secure Lai’s release, since such decisions can be announced during meetings.
“The US administration will do what it has promised and it cannot do it alone,” Białakowska told DW. He added, “Jimmy Lai is a British citizen and Britain should do more to get him out of jail.”
Increasing diplomatic and economic pressure
Jared Genser, a human rights lawyer who served as pro bono counsel to Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo and represented other Chinese political prisoners, also called for support from the US.
“If we want to see further action on individual matters, Xi Jinping needs to hear consistently and publicly from a broader range of governments than the United States,” Genser told DW.
Bilakowska said the leverage of the US and Europe is trade and business. “It’s always about trade with China. They’re very opportunistic about it and they’ll only take action if they see an opportunity for themselves.”
Although Beijing may be reluctant to improve its human rights record, Białakowska emphasizes that China’s trade relations with foreign countries remain important and could become a weak pressure point.
“This is where China feels the pressure, because they want to trade with Europe and the US… they want to prove that they are partners in some way,” he said, “and it’s time for us to use this advantage.”
Edited by: Carl Sexton