President Trump’s legacy as a dealmaker faces a critical test in Beijing as the freedom of 1 Hong Kong publisher hangs in the balance.
President Donald Trump arrives in China for a high-stakes summit with Xi Jinping from May 13-15, where the release of 76-year-old Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai is a critical, but uncertain, US objective.
"The US must take urgent and decisive action to secure the immediate release of a man who has dedicated his life to defending democracy and press freedom," Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a statement ahead of the visit.
Lai, the founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in February 2026 under Hong Kong's National Security Law. More than 100 bipartisan US lawmakers have urged Trump to secure Lai's release on humanitarian grounds, citing his deteriorating health after more than 1,950 days in detention.
The outcome for Lai is a major variable in the summit, which also focuses on trade, Taiwan, and Iran. A failure by Trump to secure a release would undermine his self-proclaimed dealmaking prowess, while success could de-escalate tensions and provide a much-needed win for human rights advocates.
The situation draws parallels to former President Richard Nixon’s successful 1990 appeal to Deng Xiaoping to release dissident Fang Lizhi. Some observers see a similar opportunity for Xi to resolve the "Jimmy Lai problem," which has made the publisher a global symbol of Beijing's crackdown on Hong Kong's freedoms. Freeing Lai could be a strategic concession, potentially smoothing negotiations on other fronts, such as Beijing's imports from Iran.
However, Trump has set a high bar for himself, having previously called freeing Lai "easy." On Monday, he reiterated his commitment but complicated the message by comparing the request to Chinese President Xi Jinping asking him to release former FBI Director James Comey. "Jimmy Lai, you know, he caused a lot of bedlam," Trump said. "He tried to do the right thing, he wasn't successful, went to jail, and people would like him out, and I'd like to see him get out too."
Advocacy groups and families of other political prisoners have seized on the summit to amplify their calls for freedom. At a recent rally near the White House, Grace Jin Drexel, daughter of detained Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, pleaded for Trump to turn his past commitments into action. "We hope and pray that with this trip, upcoming summit, that my father will be able to rejoin his family members in the U.S. as soon as possible," she told EWTN News.
The Hong Kong government's prosecution of Lai and at least 28 other journalists since 2020 has pushed the city's press freedom to new lows, with Hong Kong falling to 140th in the RSF World Press Freedom Index from 18th just two decades ago. For President Trump, the summit is a test of whether his negotiation skills can overcome Beijing's deep-seated animosity toward one of its most prominent critics. If he succeeds, he will have earned a significant victory lap; if he fails, he will have to answer for a promise he called "easy."
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
