Ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Communist China to meet with General Secretary Xi Jinping in mid-May 2026, a “No Deals Without Freedom” rally outside the White House in Washington, DC, asked President Trump to lobby General Secretary Xi to free Hong Kong Special Administrative Region pro-democracy advocate and media publisher Jimmy Lai and other HK, Tibetan, Uyghur, and Chinese political (and religious) prisoners. Co-hosted by the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, the Luke Alliance, International Campaign for Tibet, Campaign for Uyghurs, and the Uyghur Human Rights Project representatives of Congresspersons and Senators read statements of support from U.S. Representative Jim McGovern, the co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, and Senator Jeff Merkley, former co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. In a show of bipartisanship, over 100 members of Congress called on President Trump to prioritize Jimmy Lai’s release in his meeting with the General Secretary. Family members and supporters of the political prisoners and human rights advocates participated in the rally including Grace Jin Drexel, Rushan Abbas, Rayhan Asat, Sophie Luo, Gao Pu, and Sophie Richardson.
