While there won’t be bombs dropping, President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to China will be no walk in the park. While trade remains a thorn in U.S.-Chinese relations, there is more underneath the surface. If Trump wants to advance America’s interests in Beijing, there are topics he needs to address.
Human rights is one of those issues. Millions of people are suffering under the oppression of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Christians in particular are subject to arrests, torture, and indefinite detention without a trial or access to a lawyer.
The case of Pastor Ezra Jin typifies the anti-Christian discrimination of the CCP. Arrested in October, along with dozens of church members, Pastor Jin has been imprisoned without charges since then. In addition, the CCP is harassing his lawyer, eliminating whatever chance Jin has of getting a fair trial. Thankfully, the public pressure campaign led by Jin’s daughter, Senate staffer Grace Jin Drexel, has brought Jin’s case to President Trump’s attention. Trump promised that he would bring up Pastor Jin’s case in his meeting with Xi Jinping.
Another prominent case Trump will ask Xi about is Hong Kong businessman Jimmy Lai. Lai, a British passport holder, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his pro-democracy activism. A virtual death sentence for the nearly eighty-year-old Lai. Hong Kongers were promised a high degree of autonomy after the city’s handover to China.
The central government in Beijing has spent the time since the handover gradually erasing freedom in Hong Kong. Instead of taking his British passport and fleeing the city, Lai stayed and fought for Hong Kong, leading to his arrest in 2020. Like with Pastor Jin, Trump said on multiple occasions that he would try to secure Lai’s freedom. Should he succeed, this would not only be a moral victory, but it would also establish the United States’ status as the defender of global liberty.
It may feel like ancient history at this point, but we are just over a year into Trump’s Liberation Day trade war — the next topic sure to be discussed. China was targeted more than any other nation, with tariff rates exceeding 100% at one point. Despite the tariffs, China remains one of the U.S.’s largest trading partners. With the economy straining due to the war in Iran, Trump is feeling pressure to score an economic victory.
Despite this, Trump should not sign a trade deal with China that does not benefit the U.S. For one thing, China has a history of failing to honor international agreements. Aside from the aforementioned Joint Declaration, China failed to fulfill commitments it made under the trade deal signed during the first Trump administration. With that in mind, Trump would be wise to take any promises from Beijing with a grain of salt.
Trump needs to remember on his trip that China isn’t a prospective partner; they are a geopolitical threat. For starters, China continues threatening the source of 90% of the world’s advanced computer chips: Taiwan. If China conquers Taiwan, they gain a stranglehold on critical tech and leverage over a global economy dependent on advanced chips.
China’s saber-rattling isn’t limited to Taiwan; they are also threatening neighbors like Japan and the Philippines. China illegitimately asserts sovereignty over territory that is well within the exclusive economic zones of its neighbors. To get around this, China is building islands to claim territory in the South China Sea as its own. Xi wants Trump to abandon America’s allies in Tokyo and Manila. Trump can’t let them.
The danger from China isn’t limited to what goes on outside the U.S.; the threat is already within our borders. Counterintelligence operations focus heavily on Chinese operatives, with dozens of arrests being made against Chinese nationals for spying. Moreover, China is one of the largest purveyors of transnational repression (TNP), whereby China harasses or suppresses dissidents living abroad. To protect the freedom of its citizens, Trump made clear to Xi that this is unacceptable.
These are weighty issues the Trump administration has to address. Any of these issues may be enough for China to balk at any trade negotiations. The president should not let this risk intimidate him. For one thing, they are too important to sacrifice for the sake of a trade deal. Second, the U.S. doesn’t need to sacrifice its values to appease China. Despite China’s growth, the United States remains the world’s largest economy and doesn’t need to sacrifice core interests to appease China.
President Trump has a full plate with the war in Iran causing economic and political pain. His trip to Beijing may be a tempting opportunity to score a win on the foreign policy front. If the president wants his trip to be successful, he needs to keep human rights and national security in mind.
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Matt Cookson is an alumnus of the Young Voices Contributor Program and was a Middle East History and Policy Fellow with Young Voices. He also works in the supply chain for a U.S. Defense Contractor. His commentary has appeared in the Mises Institute, Real Clear Politics, the National Interest, Providence Magazine, China Source, and the Idaho Freedom Foundation. You can follow him on X @MattCookson95 and Substack @thewaythecookiecrumbles.
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