House VAT Chairman Robert Aderholt Calls on China to Release Political Prisoners

WASHINGTON, D.C – Congressman Robert Aderholt, Chairman of the House Values Action Team (VAT), calls for the immediate release of political prisoners ahead of Chairman Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States. 

“The Chinese Communist Party’s detention of many political prisoners, including Dr. Gulshan Abbas, Jimmy Lai, Ilham Tohti, and unjustly imprisoned members of the Zion Beijing Church, the ‘Zion 8,’ is an offense against freedom and international human rights,” said Chairman Aderholt. “The United States must stand and speak up for people of faith everywhere in the world and I call for their immediate release.”

“Earlier this summer, I had the honor of meeting Pastor Ezra Jin, who was arrested and imprisoned by the CCP for over 250 days for preaching the Gospel before his release in early July. While we celebrate that Pastor Jin is now free and has been reunited with his family in the United States, China’s unjust persecution of other leaders continues.”

The “Zion 8” church members who remain in Chinese custody include Wang Lin, Yin Huibin, Gao Yingjia, Wang Cong, Wu Qiuyu, Elder Wang Zhong, Lin Shucheng, and Liu Zhenbin. 

Dr. Gulshan Abbas is a Uyghur doctor who has been unjustly imprisoned since 2018. 

Mr. Jimmy Lai remains unjustly imprisoned after 6 years. 

And Mr. Ilham Tohti, who was awarded the Sakharov Prize in absentia in 2019, has been unjustly imprisoned for 12 years.

“President Trump’s meeting with Chairman Xi this week offers a critical opportunity to address the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of people of faith and request the immediate release of the leaders still detained. The United States will always stand up for those persecuted by the CCP for their religious and political views.”