Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on September 23 for a three-day state visit, greeted on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews by President Donald Trump in a rare personal airport welcome. With formal state events — a South Lawn arrival ceremony, closed-door talks, and a state dinner — set for Thursday, September 24, House Democrats and human-rights advocates pressed Trump to make human rights central to the discussions. Beijing, meanwhile, warned that democracy and human rights are “red lines” Washington must not cross.
House Democrats urge condemnation of the Ethnic Unity and Progress Law
On September 23, Representatives Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y., the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee), and Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) sent a joint letter to Trump urging him to express U.S. opposition to China’s Ethnic Unity and Progress Law during his meetings with Xi. The letter was also signed by Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and more than 30 other House Democrats, and endorsed by the International Campaign for Tibet, the Uyghur Human Rights Project, and the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation.
According to the lawmakers, the law — enacted on March 12, 2026 and in effect since July 1 — grants Chinese authorities broad power to prosecute Tibetans, Uyghurs, and other ethnic and religious minority groups, and its Article 63 extends legal accountability to organizations and individuals outside China for activities Beijing deems opposed to national unity. The letter warns the measure will accelerate transnational repression of critics, including U.S. citizens, and urges Trump to ask Xi for its repeal. The State Department has previously called the law “problematic.”
Meeks names prisoners; cites deteriorating health
In a separate September 23 statement, Meeks urged Trump to press Xi for the immediate release of three named prisoners: pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai, whose health he said “has severely deteriorated in the past few weeks”; journalist Dong Yuyu, “so he can seek treatment for his cancer”; and Zhang Zhan, the journalist who reported on Covid-19 in China and “is on a partial hunger strike.” Meeks also cited “over 2,700 political prisoners, including 120 journalists, currently held in China,” and called for the release of wrongfully detained U.S. citizens Min Zin and Youlin Chen.
“No Xi in D.C. without human rights”
At a Capitol Hill press conference on September 23, McGovern told reporters: “Our message today is no Xi in D.C. without human rights,” calling on Trump to make future cooperation with Beijing contingent on “tangible human rights improvements.” The event was attended by Raskin and representatives of Tibetan, Uyghur, Hong Kong, and Chinese communities. Tencho Gyatso, president of the International Campaign for Tibet, urged Trump to raise the case of the 11th Panchen Lama, who disappeared after Chinese authorities detained him as a child in 1995, to oppose forced assimilation of Tibetan children, and to press Beijing to resume substantive dialogue with the Dalai Lama.
McGovern said in remarks reported by Reuters: “We cannot abandon human rights in our foreign policy. China’s record is beyond debate and it is atrocious.”
Beijing signals rights are off the table
Beijing has signaled the topic will be off limits. Ambassador Xie Feng warned Wednesday that democracy and human rights are “red lines” that cannot be crossed, according to Reuters. The four red lines — the Taiwan question, democracy and human rights, China’s path and system, and its development rights — were laid out in Xie’s June 2026 address to the U.S.-China Business Council.
Trump is expected to ask Xi to free the two detained Americans, Youlin Chen — imprisoned since late 2024 — and Min Zin, arrested in June, according to Chen’s wife Yufang Rong. The Free China Movement previously reported on those cases ahead of the summit. Elizabeth Richards, research director of the James Foley Foundation, said: “We hope to see Dr. Chen and Zin come home after this meeting.” World Uyghur Congress president Turgunjan Alawdun called Xi’s visit “a strategic moment to move beyond words of condemnation on the Uyghur genocide.”
This appeal follows other pre-summit advocacy this week: a bipartisan Senate letter urging Trump to press Xi on jailed pastors and religious persecution, and a Fortify Rights statement calling on Trump to seek the release of political prisoners including Jimmy Lai, Zion Church pastors, and Uyghur scholars.
Sources
- Reuters, “Trump to raise detainees with Xi, but other rights issues may not come up,” September 23, 2026
- Rep. Jamie Raskin, “Ahead of U.S.-China Summit, Raskin, Meeks, McGovern Urge Trump to Condemn CCP Law Designed to Repress Religious Minorities and Attack Critics Around the World,” September 23, 2026
- Rep. Gregory Meeks, “President Must Stand Up for Allies and Human Rights at Trump-Xi Summit,” September 23, 2026
- The Well News, “McGovern, Allies Urge Trump to Put Human Rights at Center of Xi Visit,” September 23, 2026
- Reuters, “Trump plans grand spectacle for potentially tense Xi talks,” September 23, 2026
- USA Today, “Friend or foe? Trump rolls out the red carpet for China’s Xi Jinping,” September 23, 2026