Trump Confronts Xi Over Jailed Christian Publisher and China’s Growing Church Crackdown

US President Donald Trump has announced plans to directly challenge Chinese leader Xi Jinping over the imprisonment of Catholic media tycoon Jimmy Lai and detained pastor Jin Mingri during high-stakes talks in Beijing this week. Speaking from the White House, Trump described Lai as a man who “tried to do the right thing” before being jailed under Hong Kong’s controversial national security laws. Lai, the founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily, was sentenced earlier this year to 20 years in prison on charges linked to alleged collusion with foreign forces and publishing seditious material. His arrest has become a global flashpoint in the debate over shrinking freedoms in Hong Kong, with rights groups warning that religious liberty, free speech and independent journalism are being squeezed under Beijing’s tightening grip.

Trump also turned attention to the case of Pastor Jin, founder of Beijing’s influential Zion Church, whose arrest followed China’s intensified restrictions on unregistered churches and online religious activity. Chinese authorities have defended the measures as necessary to prevent “foreign collusion” and maintain national stability, but critics argue the campaign is targeting independent Christian communities that refuse state control. Zion Church had already been shut down in 2018 after rejecting government surveillance measures and refusing to join the state-approved church system. As tensions rise over Taiwan, trade and military influence in Asia, Trump’s decision to spotlight imprisoned Christian figures has added a deeply emotional and politically explosive layer to an already delicate diplomatic showdown between Washington and Beijing.