It’s Wednesday, September 23. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Aaron MacLean glimpses the future of war in the Baltics. Maya Sulkin reports on the union that’s “dismantling oppression,” unless you’re Jewish. Allison Schrager asks: What happened to our frontier spirit? All that and much more.
But first: the Xi-Trump meeting, and Pastor Ezra Jin’s message to the world leaders.
Today, Chinese President Xi Jinping will land in Washington, D.C., for a meeting with President Donald Trump.
On the agenda will be some of the most important issues of our time: artificial intelligence, critical minerals, trade, and Taiwan.
But many are hoping one critical issue won’t be left off: human rights. Particularly, the cases of political prisoners still being held behind bars in China for the crimes of advocating for democracy and practicing their faith.
When the two leaders met in May, President Trump raised a case I had been following closely for months: the detention of Chinese pastor Ezra Jin. I wrote about his imprisonment, and the Chinese Communist Party’s long war on his Zion Church, in my investigation for The Free Press earlier this year, “China vs. God.”
After the meeting, Trump said he was hopeful Jin would be released, and two months later, that’s exactly what happened. But Jin was not the only member of his church who was detained by Chinese authorities. And while he is now free, and reunited with his family in the United States, eight of his colleagues remain in Chinese prison. So, too, are other prisoners of conscience, including Hong Kong democracy activist Jimmy Lai.
Today, Pastor Jin writes in our pages that this week’s meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest powers is “a unique opportunity” to free the members of his church still behind bars, and “begin a new chapter for China’s Christians.”
If his freedom is any indication, sometimes miracles are possible.
—Frannie Block
ICYMI: They Were Lifelong Democrats. Then a Terrorist Attacked Their Synagogue.
Six months ago, Hezbollah supporter Ayman Ghazali rammed a truck full of ammunition into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed responded by saying “Hurt people, hurt people.” That comment, and El-Sayed’s staunchly anti-Israel stance, have scrambled the politics of this liberal congregation.
The synagogue was forced to shut for repairs, but reopened earlier this month in time for Rosh Hashanah. Olivia Reingold went to meet its congregants, who have found themselves at the center of the state’s closely watched Senate race. Watch her talking about the story below, and click the link to read the piece.
MORE FROM THE FREE PRESS
THE NEWS
-
President Trump told the United Nations General Assembly yesterday that he will either make a deal with Iran soon, or “annihilate the Islamic Republic.” This week will likely put that promise to the test, as world leaders congregate in New York.
-
The U.S., Greenland, and Denmark agreed to a new deal expanding and bolstering the United States military’s presence on the island on Tuesday. The agreement marks a key step for the Trump administration, which has been eyeing the territory for months. (For more on America’s relationship with Greenland, read our editorial here).
-
Republican senator John Curtis is calling for an investigation into Donald Trump Jr. The move comes after a recent disclosure revealed that Trump Jr.’s lavish wedding after-party was financed by a Russian businessman tied to the Kremlin.
-
Vice President J.D. Vance’s task force is removing 760,000 Obamacare enrollments that the administration has deemed fraudulent. The decision marks one of the task force’s biggest crackdowns yet, and it says the move could save American taxpayers $2.2 billion.
-
A grand jury found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the death of Mississippi teen Nolan Wells. Wells was found dead earlier this summer, after his friends returned from a Fourth of July boat trip without him.
-
Cornell University issued a more-than-200-page report calling out the crisis in American higher education on Tuesday. The document echoes recent statements from Vanderbilt and Yale which expressed a need for widespread institutional reform across our universities.
-
Country artist Ella Langley’s hit single “Choosin’ Texas” has officially broken the record for longest-running No. 1 hit. The song has now reigned for 23 nonconsecutive weeks, surpassing Mariah Carey’s previous record for “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
