China released Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri (金明日) on Friday, in a surprise move that came less than two months after President Donald Trump raised his case with Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) during a summit in Beijing.
Jin has reunited with his family in the United States, according to his daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, who had advocated on her father’s behalf during his more than 250 days in captivity.
The founder of Zion Church, one of China’s largest underground congregations, Jin was detained in October and later charged with “illegally using information networks.” Jin began broadcasting his sermons online in 2018, reaching more than 10,000 people across China, according to his daughter’s estimate.
“We truly witnessed a miracle and we are feeling overwhelmed with joy,” Jin’s family said in a statement. “We thank God for this tremendous miracle. We also thank President Trump and his administration for their tremendous leadership.”
Human rights concerns have appeared less central to the United States’ China policy during the second Trump administration, but the president has continued to tout his ability to free individual prisoners through personal appeal.
Jin was one of nearly 30 members of Zion who were arrested last October in what religious rights advocate Bob Fu (傅希秋) called “the most extensive and coordinated wave of persecution” against underground churches in decades.
The cases of nine members, including Jin, were transferred to prosecutors last month on charges of illegal business operations. Nine others were released on bail pending trial. Jin Drexel said she remained very concerned about Zion’s other pastors who remain in captivity.
China legally guarantees its citizens’ right to religious freedom, with Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Daoism all recognized as official faiths by the government. But in practice, the Chinese Communist Party exerts strict control over the conduct of churches, many of which now operate underground.
Jin was one of two high-profile prisoners that Trump brought up during his meetings with Xi in May. The other, media mogul and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai (黎智英), remains in a Hong Kong prison, where he is serving a 20-year sentence for “colluding with foreign forces.”
Trump appeared optimistic about Jin’s chances of freedom after leaving Beijing, but slightly less so about Lai. Xi said that he would “strongly consider the pastor,” but called Lai’s case a “tough one,” according to Trump.
Lai, who is 80 years old and a devout Catholic, has seen his health deteriorate behind bars. If he were allowed to die in prison, his daughter, Claire Lai (黎采), warned last year, he would die a martyr. She called it “a stain that [the Chinese Communist Party] will never be able to erase.”
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