September 24, 2026 — U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) took to the Senate floor on September 22, 2026, urging President Donald Trump to use this week’s Washington summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to press Beijing for the release of several political prisoners.
Durbin specifically named Uyghur doctor Gulshan Abbas, Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai, Christian leaders Gao Quanfu and his wife Pang Yu, and Uyghur entrepreneur Ekpar Asat, asking that Trump seek their release during the summit meetings.
“The meeting between the leaders of our two countries is important and timely. Both nations have a great deal to discuss, including areas of shared concern and disagreement,” Durbin said. He pointed to artificial intelligence, nuclear proliferation, climate change, energy supplies and economic stability as subjects for engagement — while listing Taiwan, the war in Ukraine, economic espionage, fentanyl precursors and “basic political freedoms and human rights” as points of continued disagreement. Durbin said Abbas was reportedly imprisoned in retaliation for her family’s public criticism of Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs.
Durbin also noted the case of Beijing Zion Church founder Jin Mingri, saying he had met the pastor and his daughter Grace at the Capitol following Jin’s release after 266 days in a Chinese prison — a release the senator credited to Trump’s intervention. According to Durbin, Jin reminded him that at least eight of his congregants remain imprisoned.
Durbin recalled that the Senate passed his bipartisan resolution (S. Res. 728) in May 2026 calling for the release of political prisoners in China, naming Pastor Jin Mingri, Pastor Gao Quanfu and Pang Yu, Jimmy Lai, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, and Ekpar Asat.
On Ekpar Asat’s case, the entrepreneur’s sister wrote in a September 23, 2026 USA Today op-ed that the family learned through a Chinese Embassy response to a U.S. lawmakers’ letter that Ekpar had been sentenced to 15 years for “inciting ethnic hatred and ethnic discrimination” — and that the family has never seen a verdict, a trial record, or any evidence.
Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on September 23 for a state visit running through September 25 — his first formal state visit to the United States since 2015 — with a White House arrival ceremony scheduled for September 24.
What you can do
Contact U.S. officials and your representatives to ask that the named cases — Dr. Gulshan Abbas, Jimmy Lai, Pastor Gao Quanfu and Pang Yu, and Ekpar Asat — be raised with Xi during the summit; share this page to keep the cases visible while the summit is underway.
FreeChina.live verification note: Durbin’s floor speech is verified against multiple wire reports (IANS); quoted remarks are the wire’s reported quotations. The S. Res. 728 passage is verified against the Congressional record. Ekpar Asat’s 15-year sentence details are his sister’s account in a USA Today op-ed. Free China Movement has not independently verified individual case details beyond these cited sources.
Sources
- IANS via Hi India, “Trump urged to press Xi on political prisoners,” September 23, 2026
- Nation Press, “Senator Durbin urges Trump to press Xi on China’s political prisoners,” September 23, 2026
- USA Today, opinion, “At US-China summit, Trump should ask Xi to release my brother,” September 23, 2026
- GovInfo, S. Res. 728 (119th Congress, 2d Session), agreed to by the Senate, last action May 13, 2026 — BILLS-119sres728ats