Faces of Chinese Political Prisoners Light Up Washington Buildings as Xi Arrives for Summit

WASHINGTON—Giant portraits of prisoners of conscience illuminated the facade of the National Gallery of Art’s East Building on Wednesday evening, as rights advocates sought to thrust Beijing’s human rights abuses into the spotlight during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s state visit. 

Organized by the Human Rights Foundation, the visual campaign transformed the museum facade into a rotating canvas spotlighting eight prisoners of conscience in China—a student, a legislator, a professor, a doctor, a dissident artist, and three pastors.

The display opened by displaying the name “Xi Jinping” in stark white lettering on a solid red backdrop, then cycled through calls to “release” each individual, pairing their faces and names with symbols of their defiance against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

It’s a “snapshot of the wide range of people” arbitrarily detained in China, which are thousands in number, Jenny Wang, senior policy officer at the Human Rights Foundation, told The Epoch Times. 

Among those featured was Uyghur economic scholar Ilham Tohti, whose portrait was paired with a chalkboard of economic data. He was highlighted alongside dissident artist Gao Zhen, shown with a sculpted head, and Hong Kong student activist Joshua Wong, coupled with an umbrella—the defining symbol of the city’s pro-democracy movement he led in 2014.

The museum was the first of six spots across Washington where the campaign took place over the course of three hours. 

The feeling is as if they are “taking over D.C.,” Wang said. 

The day marked exactly 12 years since Tohti was sentenced to life imprisonment for Uyghur advocacy, noted his daughter, Jewher Ilham.

The projection “helps to bring all of their names and faces into public eyes, so people know that they are real human beings, not just some numbers,” Ilham told The Epoch Times. 

“These are people with souls, with blood, with flesh, and with loved ones. None of them deserve to be in prison for even a second.

“They deserve to walk free, just like us, just like you; they deserve to be reunited with their loved ones; and they deserve not to be forgotten.” 

Xi arrived in the United States on Wednesday for a two-day summit with President Donald Trump. At their previous summit in Beijing in May, Trump secured the release of Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri of Beijing’s Zion Church, who reunited with his family in the United States in July.

The projections also featured Jin’s fellow pastors Gao Yingjia and Wang Lin, who were detained in October 2025 during the Chinese regime’s nationwide raids on Zion Church.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has urged Trump to raise cases of prisoners of conscience when he meets with Xi.

Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.) hosted a press conference with Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) calling for the prisoners’ release.

McGovern, who led a letter addressed to Trump on the issue, said he supported the human rights campaign. 

“It’s important to make sure that the Chinese government and Xi in particular know that these prisoners of conscience are not being forgotten, that they have advocates here,” he told The Epoch Times. “People all over this country know their names.”

Raskin said he commends “everybody standing up for human rights in China for standing strong against the obscenity of him coming here.”

“Human rights should be the first thing that the president of the United States talks about,” he told The Epoch Times. “That should be the No. 1 thing on the agenda.”

Pastor Gao Quanfu, of Light of Zion Church in Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, was another detainee whose portrait flashed on the museum wall. He and his wife are almost 70. Both remain in detention over activities related to their house church.

Their son, Gao Pu, said it was very emotional to see his father’s name and face on display. 

Gao Pu’s mother has heart issues and anxiety. She has for 16 months been unable to hear her husband’s voice supporting and reassuring her, he said.

“It takes a heavy toll on her mental state,” Gao Pu said. “And then that only worsens her physical condition, so it’s a very vicious circle.” 

He said he wants to tell Xi that his parents are not his enemies.

As for Trump, Gao Pu urged him to be the “voice of the voiceless.” 

The summit will focus on issues such as trade and artificial intelligence, but those “can be negotiated,” he said.  

“Human rights and religious freedom, these are the founding values of this country—it’s something that cannot be negotiated,” he said.