A Second Open Letter Seeking President Trump’s Help from a Chinese Female Lawyer Persecuted by the CCP Dear President Trump, I hope this letter finds you well. I am Junhong Zhou, a former practicing human rights lawyer in China, and a mother who has been separated from my three young children for a long time due to persecution by the Chinese Communist Party. On the eve of your visit to China in May this year, with utmost hope and anticipation, I wrote you my first open letter seeking help, earnestly imploring you to pay attention to the difficult plight of Chinese human rights lawyers, dissidents, and religious believers. Now, having learned that President Xi Jinping is about to visit the United States and that you will meet with him once again, I have gathered my courage at this critical moment in history to write this second letter seeking help. I earnestly implore you, during your talks with President Xi, to urge the Chinese government to genuinely abide by the Constitution it has promulgated, stop violating human rights, and pay particular attention to and improve the circumstances of the following three categories of Chinese citizens, safeguarding their lawful rights and interests: Category I: Dissidents Arrested and Sentenced after Returning to China for Expressing Their Views or Participating in Democratic Activities Overseas Article 35 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China explicitly provides that Chinese citizens enjoy freedom of speech. Yet the judicial system under the CCP openly violates the Constitution and engages in ruthless retaliation against those who speak out publicly. This intense repression even extends beyond China’s borders: many Chinese citizens who criticize the Chinese government abroad, publish books deemed politically sensitive, or participate in democratic activities are arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced after returning to China. For example: The case of Li Yanhe (Fucha): A publisher who had lived in Taiwan for many years, Li was arrested after returning to Shanghai to visit relatives in 2023 and was sentenced by a Shanghai court in 2025 to three years in prison for “inciting secession. The case of Zhang Yadi: A Chinese student who studied in France and actively participated in Tibetan rights activities, Zhang was arrested in Yunnan after returning to China to visit her family during the summer of 2025 and was charged with “inciting secession.” The case of Luo Daiqing: While studying at the University of Minnesota in the United States, Luo posted comments on Twitter criticizing the Chinese government. After returning to China in 2019, he was arrested and later sentenced by a Chinese court to six months in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” The case of Hu Yang: A student at Leiden University, Hu was taken away at Shanghai Pudong International Airport while returning to China to visit his family in 2025. He was subsequently criminally detained by Zhengzhou police on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” and his case was heard by the Zhengzhou Erqi District People’s Court in July 2026. The case of Gao Shen: A renowned artist who moved to the United States in 2022, Gao was taken away by police while returning to China with his family for a visit in 2024. On August 25, 2026, the People’s Court of Sanhe City, Hebei Province, sentenced him to three years in prison for “infringing upon the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs.” These cases send a chilling signal: even if a Chinese citizen enjoys freedom of expression overseas, once that person returns to China, past statements and peaceful activities can still be turned into “criminal evidence” and used as the basis for criminal prosecution. I am also a direct victim of this fear of being criminally prosecuted for speech. In March 2024, I had intended to return to China to practice law after taking the bar exam in California; however, simply because I had posted comments online criticizing the Chinese Communist Party, I was subjected to severe pressure and threats. To this day, I have been afraid to set foot on my homeland and have been forced to remain in the United States. I have been separated from my three young children for nearly three years. My children are growing up under the shadow of their mother’s absence, while my family members have also faced repeated harassment. The CCP’s use of criminal penalties against speech has not only torn my family apart, but has also deprived hundreds of millions of Chinese people of their most basic right to freedom of expression. Therefore, I earnestly implore President Trump to make the following point clear to President Xi Jinping: respect the freedom of speech lawfully enjoyed by Chinese citizens, and stop using political views, peaceful expression, and overseas activities as grounds for suppressing dissidents and their families. Category II: Chinese Christians, Pastors, and Believers Facing Systematic Persecution for Practicing Their Faith Article 36 of the Chinese Constitution provides that Chinese citizens enjoy freedom of religious belief. Yet in reality, the CCP’s heavy-handed suppression of Christian house churches has never ceased. This is an issue to which I especially hope you will pay attention. Just a few months ago, you showed the world that intervention by the President of the United States at a critical moment can help bring freedom to someone who is being persecuted. In October 2025, Pastor Mingri Jin of Beijing Zion Church and several of his fellow church workers were arrested. After nearly nine months in detention, Pastor Jin was released in July 2026 and safely arrived in the United States. Public reports indicate that you personally raised his case with President Xi during your May meeting in Beijing, and Pastor Jin and his family publicly expressed gratitude for your intervention. Pastor Mingri Jin’s release is encouraging, but the persecution has not ended. At present, eight leaders and fellow workers of Zion Church remain in detention, including Wang Lin, Yin Huibin, Gao Yingjia, Liu Zhenbin, Lin Shucheng, Wang Cong, Wang Zhong, and Wu Qiuyu. Pastor Wang Yi of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu is still serving his nine-year prison sentence. Pastor Wang Xiaoguang and Teacher Yang Rongli, a married couple from the Golden Lampstand House Church in Linfen, Shanxi, have also been sentenced to nine and fifteen years in prison, respectively. Faith is not a crime; why should believers suffer? Since you successfully helped secure the release of Pastor Mingri Jin, I believe that you likewise have the ability and influence to urge President Xi Jinping to release the other Zion Church workers who remain in custody, as well as pastors and believers throughout China who have been imprisoned solely for practicing their faith, so that religious freedom may finally receive genuine respect on Chinese soil. Category III: Ordinary Workers Who Have Suffered Long-Term Wage Arrears but Have Difficulty Obtaining Judicial Relief This is the group of people I have been most concerned about and heartbroken over recently. My father is one of the millions of workers who have suffered in this way. He once worked as an electrician and maintenance worker at a food factory, where his employer owed him more than RMB 40,000 in unpaid wages for as long as two years. As a daughter who understands the law, I accompanied my father through the entire process of labor arbitration and court proceedings, and applied to the Wugang City People’s Court in Hunan Province for compulsory enforcement. My father did not resort to any extreme measures to defend his rights. He chose to trust the law of his country. Yet, in the face of a judicial enforcement system that has become completely paralyzed and inactive, he still has not received a single penny of the hard-earned wages that belong to him. An ordinary worker has no background and no privilege. The only thing he can rely on is the law. But when the law becomes nothing more than a worthless piece of paper, what else can he do? Deep despair and having nowhere to turn for help are pushing many ordinary Chinese workers toward a dead end, contributing to a series of tragic acts of violence and retaliation, such as: The Dezhou, Shandong Vehicle-Ramming Incident (March 2024): The individual, driven to despair by long-standing labor disputes and conflicts over defending his rights, drove a vehicle into innocent people, causing major casualties; The Panyu, Guangzhou Construction Workers’ Wage-Arrears Arson Incident (May 2024): After several migrant workers were denied hundreds of thousands of RMB in unpaid project payments and wages, and after being passed from one government department to another, including labor inspection and arbitration authorities, they were left with nowhere to turn and were driven away, ultimately resorting to extreme arson as a means of defending their rights and protesting; The Yixing, Jiangsu Stabbing Incident (October 2024): The suspect resorted to extreme retaliation after his wages were maliciously withheld by a factory and he was unable to receive his internship compensation; The Yibin, Sichuan Factory Arson Incident (January 2025): A worker set fire to a textile factory over a wage dispute involving several hundred RMB, causing tremendous public shock and concern over the desperation faced by grassroots workers. I do not condone anyone harming innocent people, nor do I believe that violence can solve social problems. But when a society completely shuts off ordinary people’s hope of obtaining justice through legitimate legal channels, and even stigmatizes normal efforts to defend one’s rights as “malicious wage demands” or charges people with the crime of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” it is pushing people at the bottom of society toward a silent dead end. My father’s only stroke of luck is that he has a daughter living in the free world who can speak out for him to the outside world. Meanwhile, tens of millions of ordinary workers who have no channel through which to make their voices heard can only struggle in silent despair. I earnestly implore President Trump to pay attention to these overlooked Chinese workers at the bottom of society and urge the Chinese government to genuinely protect workers’ right to receive their lawful wages, ensure that courts fulfill their judicial responsibilities in accordance with the law, and enable ordinary people to obtain fair remedies through normal legal channels. Dear President Trump, there are simply too many people in China who need help. I know that you cannot resolve all of China’s accumulated historical problems in a single meeting. Therefore, I ask only that, during your meeting with President Xi Jinping, you pay particular attention to the fate of these three groups of Chinese people: Those who are afraid to return to China because they expressed their views overseas; Those who have lost their freedom because they have remained committed to their religious faith; And those ordinary workers who work hard but cannot receive their hard-earned wages and have been abandoned by the judicial system. Psalm 82:3–4 says:“Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” Proverbs 31:8–9 also teaches us:“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” You are one of the most influential political leaders in the world. Through the case of Pastor Mingri Jin, the world has seen that when you pay attention to the fate of an individual at a critical moment, your intervention can have a tangible impact. When you speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, you are not only putting a sacred commandment into practice, but will also receive abundant blessings from Heaven—as Proverbs 19:17 says:“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.” Therefore, I once again make a most earnest plea: during this meeting, please speak up for those who have no voice. I trust that with your wisdom, courage, and immense influence, you can urge President Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist authorities to bring about change—restoring freedom of speech to dissidents, liberating people of faith from imprisonment, enabling ordinary laborers to live with dignity earned through their own sweat, and ensuring that the rights enshrined in Chinese law are no longer mere illusions designed to deceive the world, but realities that truly illuminate the lives of ordinary Chinese people. May my plea be heard by my Heavenly Father, and may President Trump see this appeal and be willing to give it his attention and help. Sincerely, Junhong Zhou September 23, 2026