Before Xi Jinping showed up in Washington DC last week, many different persons and organizations were urging President Trump to urge Xi to stop persecuting various innocent people. If Trump did raise such concerns during the summit, he is keeping this a secret for now. But maybe he has nothing to tell.
One appeal came from 37 Democratic congressman, who called on the president to “condemn China’s Ethnic Unity and Progress Law (EUPL) and press Xi for its repeal” (International Campaign for Tibet, September 25, 2026).
The congressional letter—written by human rights stalwart Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and led by Raskin, Tibet champion Jim McGovern (D-MA) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (D-NY)—raises concerns about the EUPL’s implications for Tibetans, Uyghurs, other ethnic and religious communities, human rights advocates and critics of the Chinese government living outside China. It decries the EUPL as an “insidious declaration of China’s intent to further repress religious freedom and the freedom of group association.”…
Focusing on Tibet, the Representatives warn that the EUPL grants Beijing sweeping authority to prosecute Tibetans, expedite further transnational repression against Tibetan communities, escalate the systemic persecution of Tibetan Buddhists, and further entrench Chinese government forced assimilation policies aimed at suppressing Tibetan religious, cultural and linguistic identity.
“During your meeting with Xi Jinping, it is imperative that you continue to voice your administration’s disapproval of this affront to the fundamental freedoms of minority communities, human rights advocates and U.S. citizens,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter concludes with a request for Trump to personally ask Xi for the repeal of the EUPL, warning that “our national security, sovereignty and basic human rights all over the world” are at stake.
Perhaps the Chinese Communist Party’s tyrannical persecutions won’t end until the Party itself ends. Until then, advocates of freedom, individual rights and democracy can only maintain the pressure, on the People’s Republic and on the countries that want to do business with it.
Also see:
International Campaign for Tibet: “New PRC Ethnic Unity and Progress Law Enforces Assimilation of Tibetans, Contradicts National and International Law”
“The PRC has over the past decade ramped up its use of transnational repression, and the new law adds additional tools that the CCP can use to undermine the human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals outside, as well as inside, the PRC.”
