At a Sept. 16 event in Washington, former Ambassador Sam Brownback and advocates described crackdown and transnational repression by Chinese authorities and urged U.S. leaders to raise specific cases during Xi Jinping’s planned meeting with President Trump.
Speakers urged U.S. officials to put religious freedom and specific prisoners on the agenda for Xi’s Sept. 24 meeting with President Trump.
Advocates described domestic repression of unregistered house churches, pressure on Uyghurs and academics, and expanding transnational reach under new Chinese law.
An open letter signed by 30 organizations asked Xi to release prisoners of conscience and change the 2026 Ethnic Unity and Progress Law before his visit.
# What happened Days before Chinese leader Xi Jinping's planned visit to Washington, D.C., advocates and former officials gathered at the Museum of the Bible on Sept. 16 to focus attention on religious freedom and transnational repression by Chinese authorities. The event, titled "Chinese Communist Party Oppression in America and China," brought together former U.S. officials, human rights advocates, scholars and representatives of persecuted faith communities.
# Who spoke and what they said Sam Brownback, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, framed the meeting as a deliberate effort to put religious freedom and individual cases on the U.S.-China agenda ahead of Xi's Sept. 24 meeting with President Donald Trump. Brownback emphasized that the advocacy targets Chinese rulers and policy, not the Chinese people.
Bob Fu of ChinaAid introduced Pastor Dale Shuqi Ding of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu. Ding described police raids, detention and surveillance targeting his church, and cited arrests of members who gathered for simple activities such as a reading group. Senior Pastor Wang Yi was noted for receiving a nine-year sentence following a wide 2018 crackdown on Early Rain.
# What actions advocates have taken
# Broader concerns raised Panelists discussed how recent Chinese laws and policies expand government control over ethnic, religious and cultural life, and how those provisions may reach organizations and individuals outside China. Speakers framed the issue as both domestic repression inside China and an increased willingness by Chinese authorities to act beyond China's borders against critics and diaspora communities.
# Noted cases used to illustrate the issues
# Why this matters now The coalition timed the event to place religious freedom and named prisoners on the diplomatic agenda as Xi prepared to meet President Trump. Advocates urged U.S. policymakers to press for specific releases and policy changes as part of bilateral discussions.
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