A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on Sept. 16 that would require sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials found responsible for the death of a political prisoner in Hong Kong custody.

The Jimmy Lai Hong Kong Political Prisoner Accountability Act of 2026 would also require the U.S. government to monitor the health and treatment of jailed Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai and other prisoners identified by the legislation as political detainees.

The measure comes ahead of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s Sept. 23-25 state visit to the United States. Xi is expected to meet President Donald Trump in Washington on Sept. 24, according to Reuters.

Bill would require sanctions after deaths in custody

The bill was introduced by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), and Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), the commission’s co-chair. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) joined them in introducing the legislation, according to the CECC’s Sept. 16 announcement.

Under the measure, if credible information indicates that a political prisoner died in Hong Kong government custody or because of actions taken during detention, the secretary of state, working with the Treasury secretary, would have 30 days to determine whether abuse, torture, medical neglect, detention conditions or other actions contributed to the death and identify those responsible.

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Sanctions against responsible or complicit Chinese or Hong Kong officials would then be required within 60 days. The legislation also directs the State Department to seek a United Nations human-rights investigation, coordinate sanctions with U.S. allies and consider visa restrictions against adult family members of sanctioned individuals.

Within 90 days of enactment and annually thereafter, the State Department would also be required to report to Congress on the health of Lai and other political prisoners and any restrictions on their access to medical treatment, lawyers, consular officials and family members. The measure also calls for a review of whether additional officials qualify for sanctions and whether privileges granted to Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in the United States should be restricted.

Sullivan said Lai’s 20-year prison sentence “must not become a death sentence,” adding that officials should face consequences if a prisoner dies because of abuse or neglect.

Smith said the legislation was intended to ensure that detainees are not forgotten, saying: “The United States will not allow Hong Kong political prisoners to be forgotten and overlooked.”

The bill also expresses the sense of Congress that Lai should be released immediately and unconditionally.

The photo shows people gathering at the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles on Feb. 14, 2026, to protest the unjust conviction of Jimmy Lai, founder of Apple Daily. (Image: Apu Gomes/Getty Images)

Report raises concerns over Lai’s treatment

The legislation followed the Sept. 15 publication of “Still Suffering: Systemic Abuse Continues in Hong Kong Prisons,” a report by the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation.

The CFHK report alleges overcrowding, punitive isolation and inadequate medical treatment in Hong Kong prisons. Citing a source it described as having direct knowledge of prison operations, the group said guards at Stanley Prison had rehearsed procedures for the possibility that Lai could die in custody. The claim has not been independently verified.

Jonathan Stivers, CFHK Foundation’s U.S. director, welcomed the legislation in a Sept. 16 statement.

“The priority remains preventing another tragedy,” Stivers said, calling for Lai and other detainees described by the organization as political prisoners to be released.

The Hong Kong government rejected the allegations and the proposed U.S. sanctions. In a Sept. 17 statement responding to the CECC hearing and legislation, authorities said Lai had received “adequate and comprehensive” medical services and accused U.S. lawmakers of interfering in Hong Kong affairs. The government maintains that Lai was lawfully prosecuted for national-security offenses and disputes descriptions of his case as political persecution.

Concerns about Lai’s condition were also raised during a Sept. 16 CECC hearing on his imprisonment, chaired by Smith. Lai’s son, Sebastien Lai, urged Chinese authorities to release his 78-year-old father on humanitarian grounds.

“My father poses no threat,” he said, adding: “Let Jimmy Lai come home to his family.”

Lai, the founder of the now-closed pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was sentenced in February to 20 years in prison after being convicted under Hong Kong’s national-security and sedition laws. His supporters and several Western governments have called for his release, while Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly defended the prosecution as lawful.

Sheng Xue: US approach shifting from reactive to proactive

Democracy activist Sheng Xue, who was in Washington for the Sept. 16 hearing, told Vision Times reporter Xiao Ran that Lai’s case has increasingly become a point of contention between Washington and Beijing.

Sheng said she viewed the new legislation as significantly different from earlier efforts to respond to human-rights cases after abuses had already occurred. By establishing in advance what actions Washington could take if a detainee died because of mistreatment or neglect, she described the approach as a form of “preemptive pressure.”

In her view, such measures are intended to force Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to consider the potential consequences before an incident occurs.

“We need to take the initiative,” Sheng said, contrasting the approach with what she described as decades of largely reactive human-rights policy.

Sheng said she had traveled to Washington to promote stronger mechanisms for addressing transnational repression, including measures that could establish consequences before and after abuses occur. She said she discussed the issue with U.S. lawmakers and visited Smith’s office to present proposals.

Asked whether Trump could raise Lai’s case directly with Xi during their upcoming meeting, Sheng said she believed “it will still be raised.”

There is precedent for such discussions. Trump said before his May visit to Beijing that he intended to raise Lai’s case with Xi, saying at the time that he would “bring him up again.” After the meeting, Trump said he had discussed Lai with the Chinese leader, although he described securing his release as a difficult issue. The Associated Press reported on the exchange following the May summit.

Original article