Trump Demands Release of Detained Chinese Pastor

In a forceful rebuke of China’s intensifying crackdown on religious freedoms, the Trump administration has demanded the immediate release of Pastor Jin Mingri, known internationally as Ezra Jin—, the founder of one of the country’s largest underground Protestant churches.

 

The 56-year-old pastor, whose two children are U.S. citizens, was detained last Friday at his home in Beihai, Guangxi Province, amid a sweeping operation that ensnared nearly 30 other church leaders and members across multiple cities.

 

The State Department’s statement condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for what it described as a “brutal violation” of religious liberty.

 

“The United States condemns the CCP’s recent detention of dozens of leaders of the unregistered house Zion Church in China, including prominent pastor Mingri ‘Ezra’ Jin,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

 

“This crackdown further demonstrates how the CCP exercises hostility towards Christians who reject Party interference in their faith and choose to worship at unregistered house churches.” He added a stark call to action: “We call on the CCP to immediately release the detained church leaders and to allow all people of faith, including members of house churches, to engage in religious activities without fear of retribution.”

 

The Arrest: A Coordinated Assault on Faith

 

Pastor’s Jin’s detention on October 10 marked the latest escalation in Beijing’s campaign against unregistered “house churches,” which operate outside the government’s strict oversight.

 

According to his daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, a U.S.-based staffer in the Senate, the arrest occurred abruptly in the evening, with no prior warning.

 

“On Friday evening, my father-in-law Pastor Ezra Jin was arrested by Chinese government officials, along with more than 20 other pastors and church workers across 7 cities in the most extensive attack on a Chinese church in 4 decades,” Drexel posted on social media, describing it as a coordinated raid spanning Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and other urban centers.

 

Zion Church, founded by Jin in 2007 as a non-denominational Evangelical community, had grown into a beacon for underground worshippers, drawing up to 1,500 members in Beijing alone at its peak and expanding through online services that attracted as many as 10,000 participants weekly via platforms like Zoom, YouTube, and WeChat.

 

Despite repeated harassment, including the 2018 forced shutdown of its Beijing location, Jin continued leading remotely from southern China, where he had relocated under constant surveillance.

 

Church leaders anticipate charges against Jin related to the “illegal dissemination of religious content via the internet,” a violation tightened by new regulations in September that mandate all faith activities occur through state-registered channels.
Pastor Sean Long, a Zion affiliate studying in the U.S., called the detentions “a very disturbing and distressing moment,” emphasizing that they contravene even China’s own constitutional protections for religious freedom.

 

Broader Crackdown: Sinicization and the Squeeze on Christianity

 

Jin’s arrest fits into a larger pattern of religious repression under President Xi Jinping, whose “Sinicization” policy demands that faiths align with Communist ideology and Chinese cultural norms.

 

Official figures estimate 44 million Christians in state-sanctioned churches, but tens of millions more worship in illicit house churches, making Protestantism one of the fastest-growing religions in China, much to the CCP’s chagrin.

 

The past year has seen vows from Xi for “strict law enforcement” against non-compliant groups, with unregistered congregations facing closures, demolitions of crosses, and forced indoctrination.

 

International watchdog Open Doors currently ranks China 15th on its World Watch List for Christian persecution, noting that “even those once tolerated are now under pressure.” Even Reuters described the Zion raids as “the biggest crackdown on Christians since 2018,” when early warning signs of Xi’s religious overhaul emerged.

 

China’s foreign ministry swiftly dismissed the U.S. criticism with spokesperson Lin Jian retorting that Washington had “no right to interfere in China’s internal affairs with so-called religious issues.”

 

Trump’s Stance: A Return to Confrontational Diplomacy

 

President Donald Trump’s vocal support for Jin aligns with his administration’s hawkish approach to Beijing, blending human rights advocacy with strategic rivalry.

 

During his first term, Trump frequently highlighted China’s Uyghur detentions and Hong Kong crackdowns, often tying them to trade negotiations. Now, in his second term, the Zion Church saga revives that playbook.

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