On Friday, Aug. 29 at The Tower Club in Vienna, Virginia, renowned human and religious rights leader and former Congressman, Frank Wolf, was honored for his 34 years of service representing northern Virginia.
The event was hosted by the Northern Virginia Republican Business Forum.
Wolf, 86, is a longtime public servant who represented Virginia’s 10th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 2015. He earned a B.A. in Political Science from Pennsylvania State University in 1961 and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1965.
He served in the military, in the U.S. Army Reserve, including active duty from 1962 to 1967. His earliest political role, before his congressional tenure, was as a legislative assistant to Rep. Edward Biester (PA) and later served as assistant to the Secretary of the Interior and deputy assistant secretary at the Department of the Interior.
At the event, Wolf spoke about how he believes there should be a “total prohibition” of lobbying for China by Congress.
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“In the United States Congress, there should be a total prohibition of lobbying for China. China is persecuting the Catholic Church, the Protestant Church, the Muslim Uighurs. They’re literally taking over Tibet, taking over Hong Kong. So you should ban all lobbying,” Wolf argued.
He also believes that American lawmakers need to enforce the law passed by Congress banning the Chinese short video streaming app, TikTok.
“That law passed Congress. They got to enforce the law,” Wolf said, adding, “TikTok should be taken off.”
He then commented on how intense transnational repression by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is in New York State. “It’s so bad,” he said. “But here in Virginia, we can do something. It can be done if you have a heart and the will to do it. Yes, the question is, do we have the heart? Do we have the will?”
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Religious freedom and human rights
Speaking to the crowd, Wolf said, “I think when you look at religious freedom and human rights, it is the most difficult time that we have had in our history.”
“When you look at the world, the Pew survey said that 80 percent of the world — 80 not 18, not 28, 80 percent of the world — lives in a religiously repressive environment. The Catholic Church is being persecuted. There are eight Catholic Bishops that are under house arrest [in China] that nobody ever, ever talks about,” he said.
According to the Catholic News Agency and a 2024 report from the Hudson Institute, at least 10 Catholic bishops in China have suffered from detention, surveillance, forced removal, or house arrest following the 2018 Vatican-China agreement on the appointment of bishops.
These include Vincent Guo Xijin, Augustine Cui Tai, Julius Jia Zhiguo, Peter Shao Zhumin, Melchior Shi Hongzhen and several others.
“And then, and I’ll be very careful how I say it, the Falun Gong have been persecuted,” he said.
He acknowledged the evidence that Falun Gong practitioners in China have been subjected to forced organ harvesting and to this day face intense persecution in China as well as abroad, including in the United States..
In Tibet, Wolf described how “every Buddhist temple” has public security police in the temple. He said, “[It] would be like your church having the FBI, the CIA and the DIA agency in your church…. The Tibetans live in fear.”
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Advocating for Jimmy Lai
He also took the opportunity to speak out about how Hong Kong entrepreneur, media tycoon and pro-democracy activist, Jimmy Lai, is being treated in communist China.
Lai has been imprisoned since 2020 under China’s National Security Law (NSL). He faces charges of “collusion with foreign forces” and “conspiracy to publish seditious material,” which could result in a life sentence.
His trial concluded on Aug. 28, 2025, after 156 days of proceedings. The court has not yet announced a verdict date, stating it will be delivered “in good time.” Lai, 77, has been held in solitary confinement for nearly five years and suffers from serious health issues, including diabetes
The trial has drawn international criticism, with rights groups and foreign governments condemning it as politically motivated. Calls for his release have come from various quarters, including from U.S. President Donald Trump and human rights organizations.
Lai’s case is widely viewed as a test of Hong Kong’s judicial independence and press freedom under Beijing’s increasing influence.
“Jimmy Lai is being prosecuted, and his trial is taking place as we sit here,” Wolf said, adding that he hopes, “President Trump will speak out and the State Department will speak out today. Jimmy Lai ought to be released and allowed to come to the United States.”
