A pastor from a leading underground church in China, who was detained in October, has been freed, his family and human rights advocates said Saturday. His release comes less than two months after President Trump raised the case during a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri arrived in Los Angeles and “is finally reunited with his family,” Frances Hui of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation said in a post on X.
Jin was among 18 leaders of the underground Zion Church detained in October, in what rights groups described as one of the most significant crackdowns on a single church in China in decades. The arrests fueled concerns about a deepening campaign against religious freedom in the country.
In a statement, Jin’s family said his release unfolded quickly. They thanked Trump for his efforts and said they believed the pastor could not have been freed without Xi’s direct involvement.
“We hope this is a signal of a positive turn for people of faith in China and relations between our two nations,” the family said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jin’s detention drew wider attention after Trump, while returning from a state visit to Beijing in May, said he had brought up both the pastor’s case and the imprisonment of Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai during talks with Xi.
“He said he’s gonna strongly consider the pastor,” Trump told reporters aboard his flight. Trump added that Xi described Lai’s case as “a tough one.”
The 78-year-old Lai, a former clothing magnate and publisher of a Hong Kong tabloid critical of Beijing, received a 20-year sentence in February.
Activists welcomed Jin’s release but also remembered other church leaders still being held.
“At least 8 members of Zion Church remain detained in China,” Maya Wang from Human Rights Watch wrote on X. “They should all be freed.”
The Zion Church is among the largest underground or house churches in China that are unregistered with authorities. They defy a requirement that believers worship only in registered congregations.
The ruling Communist Party, which is officially atheist, views organized religion as a potential threat to its hold on power. Under Xi, Chinese authorities have pushed to “Sinicize” religion by demanding loyalty to the party.
“My father started Zion in order to worship freely in a church that put God as the sole head of our church, like many faithful Christians everywhere,” his daughter Grace Jin Drexel, who lives in the United States, told a congressional committee in November.
Jin brought his family to the US after authorities targeted Zion Church in 2018 but decided to go back despite the risks. His daughter said last fall that she hadn’t seen her father in six years.
