No indication Trump addressed religious freedom with China’s Xi Jinping

WASHINGTON (BP) — Amid widespread advocacy for religious liberty and the release of pastors unfairly detained in China, there is no indication of whether President Donald Trump broached the subject with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their summit that ended Sept. 25 in Washington.

Leading advocacy group ChinaAid, which sponsored a petition urging Trump to negotiate the release of dying pastor John Cao, expressed hopes that Trump would yet address the issue.

Cao, who holds permanent U.S. residency, has developed metastatic prostate cancer and would like to spend this stage of his life at home, but the Chinese Communist Party refuses to return his passport, essentially holding him in detention in Changsha.

“At this point, we have not received confirmation that President Trump specifically raised Pastor John Cao’s case or religious freedom concerns with President Xi during their meeting,” ChinaAid Founder and President Bob Fu told Baptist Press Sept. 28. “We remain hopeful, however, that these issues were discussed privately and that positive humanitarian action may follow.”

Cao personally pled for help.

“My life might be in its last stage,” Cao told ChinaAid. “If I meet the Lord here in China, I would like people to remember me as a faithful servant of Jesus Christ. Chinese people need to receive the grace of Christ. I pray that more Chinese Christians overseas will return to China with the Gospel.”

The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) joined ChinaAid, other leading advocacy groups and key Congressional members in advance of the summit in urging Trump to press Xi on religious freedom.

Specifically, ERLC wrote letters Sept. 9 to both Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio asking the leaders to advocate for the release of eight imprisoned Zion Church pastors in China, BP reported, and also asked Trump and Rubio to urge Xi to end the genocide of Uyghur Muslims there.

Trump’s successful advocacy for the release of U.S. citizen and Zion Church senior pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, whom China released in advance of July 4th celebrations here, inspired calls for continued advocacy during the September summit.

“President Trump’s earlier personal intervention with President Xi contributed to Pastor Ezra Jin’s release and reunion with his family, demonstrating that direct presidential engagement can make a real difference,” Fu said after the summit. “Pastor Cao is battling stage-four cancer and urgently needs his passport returned so he can come home to his wife and family in the United States for medical care. We continue to pray and appeal for President Xi to act with compassion and allow Pastor Cao to return home without further delay.”

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Voice of the Martyrs, International Christian Concern, religious liberty advocate CSW and The Luke Alliance were among additional groups urging Trump to address religious freedom with Xi.

Congressional leaders including Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) were among a bipartisan group of senators who jointly signed a letter urging Trump to press Xi on religious liberty.

Religious freedom was absent from an overview of the summit the Trump administration released at WhiteHouse.gov, focusing instead on such issues as artificial intelligence, trade, diplomacy and China’s gift to the U.S. of two giant pandas.