<span class ="kicker">"Mr. President: We're backing your request to release Jimmy Lai"</span>Smith thanks President Trump for continuing to raise cases of Jimmy Lai, Pastor Ezra Jin during upcoming summit in Beijing

This press release from Representative Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) was published on 2026-05-12 and titled "<span class ="kicker">"Mr. President: We're backing your request to release Jimmy Lai"</span>Smith thanks Pr".

<span class ="kicker">"Mr. President: We're backing your request to release Jimmy Lai"</span>Smith thanks President Trump for continuing to raise cases of Jimmy Lai, Pastor Ezra Jin during upcoming summit in Beijing

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), recently joined EWTN News Nighty’s Veronica Dudo and LiveNOW From Fox’s Ryan Schmelz to highlight his recent letter to President Trump, which garnered the bipartisan support of more than 100 lawmakers, urging the President to call for the release of Hong Kong political prisoner Jimmy Lai during his upcoming meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Smith also raised the cases of other political prisoners who have been unjustly detained in China. “There is solidarity—it’s bipartisan in the House and the Senate—backing the President’s request to release Jimmy Lai on humanitarian grounds,” said Smith during his Sunday interview with LiveNOW From Fox . “The entire House and Senate stand in solidarity with the President in making that humanitarian parole request,” he continued. S mith underscored the time-sensitivity of Lai’s release, as the 78-year-old founder and publisher of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily suffers from a myriad of health conditions and endures inhumane living conditions while in prison. While speaking to the press, Smith—who has consistently advocated for Lai’s release since his arrest in 2020—appealed to President Trump to once again champion Lai’s case and call for his immediate release on humanitarian grounds. Smith’s Friday night interview on EWTN News Nighty can be viewed here , and his Sunday morning interview on LiveNOW From Fox can be viewed here . ###