With as many as 300 Americans detained in China, where some are subjected to sexual abuse and torture, Rep. Chris Smith is demanding that President Trump make their release a centerpiece of his upcoming summit with China’s President Xi Jinping.
The New Jersey Republican, who co-chairs the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, warned that quiet, piecemeal diplomacy has only emboldened Beijing to keep taking American hostages.
“They only recognize one thing, and that is strength,” Mr. Smith told The Washington Times.
“We have to be firm. Very civil, but very firm. Our hope is that the president will have a very well-defined list … to effectuate the release of these individuals,” he said.
Freeing American citizens detained in China has been a bipartisan priority.
A senior administration official said Mr. Trump raises the issue of Americans and others detained in China every time he has met with Mr. Xi. “If I had to guess, he will be consistent again this time,” the official told The Times.
Some high-profile prisoners in China include Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai; Uyghur economics professor Ilham Tohti; American scholar Min Zin; American businessman Kai Li; Americans Dawn Michelle Hunt, Nelson Wells Jr., and John Chen; Chinese journalist Dong Yuyu; and the Zion 8 — eight pastors and co-workers of Beijing Zion Church.
Mr. Smith urged the Trump administration to elevate China’s travel advisory to Level 4, the most severe, saying the current rating of Level 2 dangerously understates the risk, which includes exit bans and arbitrary criminal charges, to American businesspeople and travelers.
“If you go there even as a businessman or woman, and your interlocutors and your business associates over there don’t like what you’re doing, good luck,” Mr. Smith said. “They bring charges, you’re in prison, and you won’t get out anytime soon. … Once accused, you’re convicted. There’s no due process.
“If you’re in a Chinese prison camp, you’re going to be tortured. Some of the most horrific tortures on the face of the Earth against women, many of them are sexual,” he said.
He recalled testimony from the family of Ms. Hunt and Mr. Wells. ”It was heartbreaking — the sexual abuse that is being visited upon them, the racial prejudice that is further exacerbating their situation in prison.”
Mr. Smith co-authored legislation known as the Nelson Wells/Dawn Michelle Hunt bill, which would establish a formal “cases of concern” framework, require State Department engagement with families, and create an action plan for detained Americans.
The bill stalled in the Foreign Affairs Committee last year.
The legislation requires the Secretary of State to develop a diplomatic plan of action within 60 days of enactment to secure detainees’ release, including “a determination on expanded use of the International Prison Transfer Program.
The State Department said the Trump administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans.
“The U.S. and China have no prisoner transfer treaty; the U.S. continues to advocate for detained/imprisoned Americans, especially those with serious health concerns,” a spokesperson told The Times.
The spokesperson said travel advisories are updated as needed based on new safety and security developments and are based on an objective review process.
Mr. Smith said the Trump administration has several legislative tools to deploy to gain leverage over China when the country engages in what has been called hostage diplomacy against the U.S., such as relinking Most Favored Nation trade status to human rights progress.
He faulted the Clinton administration for delinking human rights from trade in 1994, calling it a damaging precedent of capitulation.
“He sold out the Chinese people like nobody else has ever sold out a group of people,” Mr. Smith said.
The Times reached out to former President Bill Clinton for comment.
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