OPINION:
President Trump says he raised the issue of prisoner cases in his meeting with Xi Jinping last month, but the next time the two men meet, Mr. Trump should demand the release of all political and religious prisoners.
He should highlight the cases of two men: 78-year-old Jimmy Lai and 29-year-old Joshua Wong.
Messrs. Lai and Wong have four things in common: Both are devout Christians, became the faces of Hong Kong’s democracy movement are well-known in Washington and face the rest of their lives in jail.
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Washington has a responsibility to free them.
Mr. Lai escaped famine in China in 1958 and came to Hong Kong as a stowaway at age 12. He eventually became a highly successful entrepreneur and billionaire.
It was the Tiananmen massacre in 1989 that awakened him to the dangers of communism. He founded the Apple Daily newspaper and became a campaigner for freedom.
Mr. Wong was 14 when he began his activism, campaigning against a communist-inspired education curriculum. In the first mass protests in 2014, he took on a key leadership role, which he continued in the 2019 protests.
The two men have been in prison on multiple, fabricated charges since the 2020 imposition on Hong Kong by Beijing of a draconian national security law.
Mr. Lai, who is diabetic and suffers from hypertension, may die in jail, while Mr. Wong may lose his best years in jail. Both are reasons to strive for the men’s release.
President Trump has made protecting Christians worldwide a priority. The next time he meets with Mr. Xi meet, he must prioritize the release of Messrs. Lai and Wong, making it a precondition of any further meetings.
Let’s free Mr. Wong by his 30th birthday and before Mr. Lai turns 79 in December.
BENEDICT ROGERS
Senior Director, Fortify Rights
London, England
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