Chairs Ask President to Raise Political Prisoner Cases in China

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-New Jersey), the Chair and Co-chair respectively, of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) released a letter today calling on the President to personally raise the cases of Americans, U.S. lawful permanent residents, and their family members, who have been unjustly detained in the People’s Republic of China, during his next meeting with General Secretary Xi Jinping.

The Chairs were joined on the letter by CECC Ranking Members Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representative James McGovern (D-MA).

The CECC Commissioners commended the President’s willingness to raise the case of Hong Kong media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, and his commitment to securing the release of Americans unjustly detained in China, including Nelson Wells, Jr. and Dawn Michelle Hunt.

The letter also highlighted the growing threat to American interests arising from the Chinese Communist Party’s use of hostage diplomacy, coercive exit bans, and transnational repression against U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and their family members. The Commissioners urged direct personal advocacy on four representative cases of this trend in all high-level discussions with CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping, including:

• Pastor Mingri “Ezra” Jin, imprisoned for his religious leadership, whose U.S.-based family has faced intimidation for advocating on his behalf with the White House and the Department of State;
• Dr. Gulshan Abbas, a Uyghur physician serving a 20-year sentence, reportedly detained in connection with her sister’s advocacy in the United States;
• Ekpar Asat, a Uyghur entrepreneur detained following participation in a U.S. State Department program;
• Gao Zhen, a U.S. lawful permanent resident detained over artwork created in the United States, and whose child has been barred from returning home to New York City.
   

“The CCP is not only punishing an individual. It is sending a message both at home and abroad that it can control the lives of people in China and reach into American families and influence conduct in the United States,” the letter states, and the Chairs further underscore that “the United States will address arbitrary detention and family intimidation in the normal course of bilateral relations.”

In addition, the Commissioners recommended that the Department of State maintain a regularly updated priority list of political prisoner and exit-ban cases for use in senior-level diplomatic engagements, including a list of unjustly detained Americans and prisoners of conscience with close family ties to the United States.  A priority list of prisoners drawn from the CECC’s searchable Political Prisoner Database is included with the letter. 

The Commissioners emphasize that raising individual cases—both publicly and privately—can help protect American citizens and businesses while increasing the cost of repression for Chinese authorities.

Read the full letter here: link