Xi Jinping is going to Washington, and a political prisoner list is already waiting for him outside the White House party.

The Washington trip on September 24 has not yet begun, and a list has already arrived.

Gushan Abbas, Akbar Assad, Zhu Zhu Zhu, Geira Dajuti, Ding Yue, Yi Yue Yue, Cao Feng, Cao Zhi, Ban Zen Lama, Yue Yue Yue, Yue Yue Yue, Li Ching, Li Jiang, Mingxin, Ilham Yue, Wang Yue, Yang Mao, and the heads of the Beijing Zion Church—these names appear in about 30 open letters from human rights, democracy and religious freedom organizations written to Xi Jinping.

This is not an abstract “improving human rights” initiative.The list links Xi’s planned U.S. visit directly to a group of people who are experiencing imprisonment, detention or other restrictions in mainland China, Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong.United Nations calls for the release of prisoners of conscience and human rights defenders before Xi arrives in WashingtonIt also proposes to end transnational repression and amend laws it considers to be in violation of international human rights obligations.

A day after the publication of the letter, on September 17, Freedom House released a policy brief.The focus is further shifted to the U.S.: During Xi’s planned visit to the U.S., overseas Chinese dissidents, Tibetans, Uighurs and other critics can openly express themselves without foreign government intervention.

The people on the list do not belong to the same case.

There are Uighur scholars and intellectuals, there are Hong Kong Democrats, there are mainland Chinese lawyers, journalists and religious figures. putting them in the same letter in common is not a profession, but their cases are long-term concerned by international human rights organizations or U.S. lawmakers.

The open letter also calls for amendments or abolitions of laws, including the Hong Kong National Security Act and the 2026 National Unity and Progress Promotion Act.The co-signers also demand that the Chinese side allow overseas people, including the Dalai Lama, to safely return to China to visit relatives or reunite with their communities.

But the letter most directly touched on the U.S. mainland is “transnational repression.”

Several signatories themselves have been harassed, tracked or monitored in the United States by the Chinese government, Chinese authorities or their agents, and families of some U.S. activists in China have been retaliated for their activities abroad.

The Freedom House policy briefing of September 17 puts this concern in a longer record.The agency has long established a database of transnational repression, and lists China as one of the countries in its records with the most extensive use of such behavior.The so-called transnational repression includes physical attacks, detention or deportation of overseas critics, as well as digital surveillance, threatening families, and other forms of cross-border pressure.

This created two completely different images of Washington on September 24.

On the one hand, the issue of diplomatic ceremonies, trade, security and technology during state visits; on the other hand, the possible re-emergence of protesters outside the Chinese embassy, and those who are unable to come to Washington. In recent years, supporters of Chinese human rights activists, such as Deng Xiaobo and Chongqing, have been calling for the release of political prisoners outside the Chinese embassy in the United States. For these overseas communities, Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States was not just a diplomatic news, but also one of the few moments when they were able to publicly appeal to the highest leader of China during their visit.

The Open Letter therefore puts a very specific requirement: Xi Jinping’s delegation and its associated personnel in the United States should publicly undertake not to carry out transnational repression or collective punishment against protests and resistance activities during their visits.

The Chinese government has long opposed foreign governments and organizations to interfere in China’s internal affairs on human rights issues and to defend Hong Kong’s national security system, Xinjiang and Tibet’s policies and related national security measures. For the Organization, however, the dispute has crossed borders: when a government’s control of its citizens is allegedly extended to U.S. streets, social platforms and family relations abroad, the problem no longer occurs only in China.

The September 24 meeting will have its own diplomatic agenda.But before the meeting began, the list had put another agenda on the table: When can those imprisoned go home, and can those who already live abroad, stand up and talk safely when Xi arrives in Washington.