President Donald Trump is facing growing calls to use his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping to demand freedom for Christians and other religious believers suffering under the Chinese Communist Party.
The two leaders are expected to focus heavily on trade and artificial intelligence during Thursday’s White House talks. Religious-freedom advocates, however, say the persecuted church must not be pushed aside.
“I hope he will make room,” Todd Nettleton, vice president of message for The Voice of the Martyrs–USA, told The National News Desk. “I don’t know where it falls on the agenda, but I think it’s such an important topic.”
Trump has already shown that direct pressure can produce results. During an earlier meeting in Beijing, the president raised the imprisonment of Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, leader of an unregistered Chinese church. Jin was later released and reunited with his family in the United States.
Former Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, who previously served as U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, believes Trump can help other persecuted believers as well.
“There’s time in there for him to raise this issue,” Brownback told The National News Desk. “And the president’s been fabulous on religious freedom.”
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A System Built on Control
Brownback said China’s persecution extends across multiple faith communities and is driven by the Communist Party’s determination to control its people.
“The system itself is evil, and it’s about controlling people of faith, all faiths, Christians, Muslim, Buddhists, Falun Gong,” Brownback said.
Chinese authorities frequently target pastors and church leaders while surveilling ordinary worshippers. When house churches are raided, officials photograph attendees and collect their identification information, according to Nettleton.
Believers outside major cities also face severe restrictions on obtaining Scripture.
“If you live in a rural area or a small village, you have almost zero access to the Scriptures in any kind of legal way,” Nettleton said.
Advocates specifically want Trump to raise the case of Pastor John Cao. Although Cao completed a seven-year prison sentence, Chinese authorities have prevented him from leaving the country and reuniting with his wife and children in America. Cao has been diagnosed with late-stage cancer.
“I’ve told people, and I fully believe this, that the Chinese Communist Party fears religious freedom more than they fear our aircraft carriers or nuclear weapons,” Brownback said.
As Trump meets with Xi, Christians should remember those suffering for their faith and pray that imprisoned believers will not be forgotten behind closed diplomatic doors.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
