Donald Trump said he discussed the imprisonment of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during their summit in Washington last week.
The president was asked whether he had spoken to Mr Xi about political prisoners in China, specifically Lai, a British national serving a 20-year jail sentence on national security and sedition charges, and Min Zin, an American arrested in June.
“I did with President Xi. I did,” Mr Trump told reporters without referring to any specific case.
“We talked, and I think we had some very, very important discussions. Hopefully, fruitful discussions.”
Mr Trump was under pressure from the UK to raise Lai’s imprisonment during his meeting with Mr Xi, who was visiting Washington for a three-day state visit.
Lai, 78, founder of the now-defunct Apply Daily newspaper in Hong Kong and a vocal critic of China, was given 20 years in prison earlier this year for violating the city’s national security law imposed by Beijing.
Lai’s family has been calling on the UK government to ramp up diplomatic efforts to secure his release. They fear for his life given his deteriorating health condition.
Mr Trump was also under pressure to push Mr Xi to release Min Zin, a US academic who was detained in China after reportedly traveling for a conference at the government’s invitation.
The US State Department called his detention wrongful and said the safety and security of American citizens in China was a top priority.
Min Zin lived in Thailand and spent time in Myanmar and the US. He held a valid Chinese visa that he had previously utilised to attend academic gatherings in the country.
According to media reports, Min Zin flew to Yunnan province on 3 June after receiving an invitation from the government to attend a conference in Kunming, where he was apprehended at the airport.
British prime minister Andy Burnham had personally asked Mr Trump to press Mr Xi for the release of Lai when they met, according to media reports.
Mr Trump previously said he had raised the issue directly with Mr Xi in May when they met in Beijing.
However, he later said freeing Lai was a “tough one for him to do” though the Chinese leader would “strongly” consider releasing the pastor of an underground church.
Calls for Lai’s release grew urgent after the advocacy group Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong reported that prison staff were rehearsing protocols for the tycoon’s death.
“Most alarmingly, a source with direct knowledge of prison operations told the CFHK Foundation that Stanley Prison guards formally rehearsed procedures in the event that Lai died in custody,” it reported.
Hong Kong’s Correctional Services Department dismissed the report and said it did not discuss prison security or “specific arrangements” for persons in custody.
