Chinese pastor freed after Trump raised case with Xi
Ezra Jin Mingri, leader of an underground church detained in October, has arrived in Los Angeles, his family and rights advocates said.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
3 min read
Chinese authorities have released Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, a prominent underground church leader detained in October, his family and rights advocates said Saturday, according to The Associated Press. The case had become a point of U.S.-China diplomacy after President Donald Trump said he raised it with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a May meeting in Beijing.
Frances Hui of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation wrote on X that Jin had arrived in Los Angeles and was reunited with his family, the AP reported. A statement from Jin’s family said the release moved quickly and thanked Trump, while saying the family believed it could not have happened without Xi’s direct involvement.
Jin was detained along with 17 other leaders of Zion Church, an underground Christian congregation, in what rights advocates described as one of China’s largest actions against a single church in decades, according to the AP. The detentions deepened concerns among advocates about tighter state controls on religious practice in China.
Trump raised Jin’s case in Beijing
Trump told reporters in May, as he returned from a state visit to China, that he had discussed Jin’s detention with Xi, according to the AP. Trump also said he raised the case of Jimmy Lai, the jailed Hong Kong media publisher and democracy supporter.
Trump said at the time that Xi would “strongly consider” Jin’s case, while describing Lai’s case as more difficult, the AP reported. Lai, 78, a former clothing businessman and publisher of a Hong Kong tabloid critical of Beijing, received a 20-year sentence in February, according to the AP.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the AP reported.
Other Zion Church members remain held
Rights advocates welcomed Jin’s release while calling attention to church members still in custody. Maya Wang of Human Rights Watch wrote on X that at least eight Zion Church members remained detained in China and said they should be released, according to the AP.
Zion Church is among China’s large unregistered house churches, according to the AP. Such congregations operate outside government-approved religious bodies and do not comply with rules requiring worshippers to attend registered churches.
China’s ruling Communist Party is officially atheist and treats organized religion as a possible challenge to its authority, the AP reported. Under Xi, authorities have pressed religious groups to align with party priorities through a policy often described as the “Sinicization” of religion, according to the AP.
Jin’s daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, told a congressional committee in November that her father founded Zion Church so believers could worship freely with God as the church’s sole head, according to the AP. Drexel, who lives in the United States, said last fall that she had not seen her father in six years.
Jin moved his family to the United States after Chinese authorities targeted Zion Church in 2018, but he later returned to China despite the risks, according to the AP.
This story draws on original reporting from NPR.