Trump: China may release detained pastor but case of tycoon Jimmy Lai 'a tough one'

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he thinks Chinese President Xi Jinping is seriously considering releasing a detained pastor in China but that the case of jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai "is a tough one."

"I think he's giving very serious consideration to the pastor," Trump told reporters on Air Force One en route to the United States from China, but added that Xi told him that Lai's case would be different.

"He told me that would be a tough one," Trump said.

Lai was sentenced to 20 years in jail in February on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of publishing seditious materials.

Lai's case had sparked global concerns over the national security clampdown in Hong Kong, in part reflecting his prominence as founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper. Some foreign governments and international rights groups had criticized the impact of the security law in Hong Kong.

Zion Church founder, Pastor Jin Mingri, was arrested in November along with nearly 30 other pastors and staff belonging to Zion Church, in the biggest crackdown on Chinese Christians since 2018.

The detentions came after new rules from China's top religion regulator banned unauthorized online preaching or religious training by clergy, as well as "foreign collusion."

-Trevor Hunnicutt; additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw, Humeyra Pamuk and Susan Heavey in Washington; editing by Michelle Nichols/Reuters