{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=415839", "Daily Signal article on Smith hearing'Congress Hears Pleas for Release of God-Fearing Chinese Democracy Advocate'", "2026-09-16", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher H. Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", "chrissmith", "https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "By Pedro Rodriguez\n\nPublished September 16, 2026\n\nA top congressional panel on Wednesday examined the imprisonment of Chinese media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai and the state of press freedom and judicial independence in China.\n\nThe Congressional-Executive Commission on China hearing, titled \u201cA Son and Daughter\u2019s Appeal to Xi Jinping to Release Their Dad, Jimmy Lai,\u201d comes a week before the Chinese Communist Party leader\u2019s visit to the United States.\n\nThe hearing featured testimony from Sebastien Lai, the son of the imprisoned media entrepreneur, who called for the immediate release of the 78-year-old democracy activist. Jimmy Lai was sentenced to prison after founding a non-state-sponsored newspaper and \u201cbelieving in the almighty,\u201d the panel\u2019s chairman, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said during the hearing.\n\nPeople gather in front of the Chinese Consulate General to protest the unjust conviction of media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai on Feb. 14, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images)\n\n\u201cAmerica understands, in his pains, that freedom dies with the last men willing to defend it. And that the cost of not standing up for liberty is not felt until it is too late,\u201d Sebastien Lai said.\n\n\u201cMy father poses no threat. His imprisonment makes him a symbol of injustice. His death in prison would be a disgrace.\u201d\n\nLai also said during his testimony that his sister, Claire Lai, was supposed to testify before the panel alongside him Wednesday but was diagnosed with cancer earlier this month and is currently undergoing chemotherapy in London.\n\nThe congressional panel also heard from Steve Yates, senior research fellow for China and national security at The Heritage Foundation, who provided the committee with insight into the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s control.\n\n\u201cThis is no longer principally an appeal to law, foreign or domestic,\u201d Yates said. \u201cIt is a litmus test of whether there remains any reason to believe there is a future in Xi Jinping\u2019s China for the kind of man that Jimmy Lai is.\u201d\n\nDuring his testimony, Yates, who lost his 25-year-old daughter in 2023 to a fentanyl overdose, added that the cancer diagnosis of Jimmy Lai\u2019s daughter only furthers the case for why he must be released.\n\n\u201cAs a father who held his daughter\u2019s hand through the truly terrible circumstances and ultimately lost her, I can attest there has been no greater pain in my life,\u201d Yates said. \u201cNot being permitted to hold her hand through those times would have been unimaginably worse.\u201d\n\n\u201cChina should not be making a dying man and a daughter, confronting grave illness, endure additional cruelty in the service of a political trophy,\u201d Yates continued.\n\nAfter the witnesses\u2019 remarks, Smith thanked them for coming forward and asserted that not many things can unite Congress, but Lai\u2019s imprisonment does.\n\n\u201cWe should also remember the human dimension of this case. For more than five years, Jimmy Lai\u2019s children have had to live with the reality that their father is imprisoned thousands of miles away,\u201d Smith said.", 1, "2026-09-17T09:52:05Z", "2026-09-17T09:53:00Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=415839"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8378708735108376, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}