Youlin Chen has been imprisoned since late 2024 and Min Zin was arrested in June; Chen’s wife says President Donald Trump will ask Xi Jinping to free both US citizens at this week’s summit. The White House has not said whether Trump will raise broader human-rights issues.
Chen’s wife said Trump raised his case in a May meeting with Xi in Beijing, but nothing had happened since. Human-rights groups and Democratic lawmakers also want Trump to address China’s treatment of Tibetans and Uyghurs, Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters, and a new law meant to promote a shared identity among 55 ethnic minority groups. The law penalizes people outside China for “inciting ethnic separatism”; the State Department calls it problematic.
China’s ambassador to the US said Wednesday that democracy and human rights are “red lines.” Beijing says its vocational training centers are intended to counter extremism and denies abuse allegations against Uyghurs. Rights groups say Uyghurs have been detained and confined in re-education camps; US secretaries of state from both parties have labeled their treatment genocide. Beijing rejects accusations about Tibet and says Washington should not interfere.
