Raised Release of Jimmy Lai with Xi Jinping; Trump Admits No Positive Response

Central News Agency, Reporter Hou Tzu-ying, Washington, May 15 - US President Donald Trump has concluded his visit to China and returned to Washington. In an earlier interview with Fox News, he revealed that this time he had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to release the jailed founder of Hong Kong's Next Digital Group, Jimmy Lai, but he admitted that there was no positive response from the other side, and the situation is not optimistic.

Donald Trump traveled to China for a state visit earlier this week and met with Xi Jinping on the 14th and 15th. Before leaving China, he accepted an exclusive interview with Fox News in Beijing, and the content was broadcast this evening.

Trump revealed in the interview that he had raised the issue of Jimmy Lai to Xi Jinping face-to-face and said, 'If you could release him, I would be very grateful.' Jimmy Lai is advanced in age and may be in poor health.

However, Trump admitted that the other party's 'reaction was not positive.' 'I am not optimistic about this.'

Before this Trump-Xi meeting, Trump repeatedly stated that he would raise the Jimmy Lai case with Xi Jinping. Jimmy Lai has been jailed since 2020, was found guilty of violating the National Security Law by a Hong Kong court in December last year, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison in February this year.

Jimmy Lai is 78 years old. Foreign media reported that his case has become one of the symbols of the Beijing authorities' suppression of Hong Kong dissidents. Beijing describes this well-known figure, who has long criticized the Chinese Communist Party, as a 'mastermind' of the democratic protests that lasted for months in Hong Kong in 2019.

Although Jimmy Lai's release did not receive a positive response from the Chinese side, Trump indicated that the situation of another pastor is very optimistic and is 'already under consideration.' Trump was referring to Jin Mingri.

Foreign media reported that Jin Mingri, pastor of the Zion Church in China, was arrested at his home in Guangxi in October last year. He has been a leader of the so-called 'house churches' in China. This type of church has long tried to operate outside the official church system strictly controlled by the government. (Editor: Chen Hui-ping) 1150516