Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, leader of an underground Beijing congregation, has arrived in Los Angeles following his release from detention in China — coming less than two months after President Trump personally raised his case with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a May state visit to Beijing.
Why It Matters
The release draws renewed attention to China’s treatment of unregistered religious communities and the potential for high-level diplomatic pressure to produce humanitarian results. It also comes amid broader negotiations between Washington and Beijing, raising questions about whether such cases can be resolved systematically or only through individual presidential intervention.
The situation echoes other recent cases in which detainees abroad were freed following direct U.S. government advocacy, including a Connecticut restaurant owner released after immigration-related detention and other high-profile diplomatic interventions in recent months.
What Happened
Pastor Jin was among 18 leaders of Zion Church detained in October in what Human Rights Watch has described as one of the largest crackdowns on a single congregation in China in decades. Zion Church is an unregistered house church — a so-called underground church that operates outside China’s state-sanctioned religious framework.
Trump raised Pastor Jin’s case during his Beijing visit in May, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that Xi “said he’s gonna strongly consider the pastor.” Jin’s release followed weeks later, and he subsequently traveled to the United States.
Pastor Jin had previously brought his family to the U.S. in 2018 after Chinese authorities began targeting Zion Church. Despite those risks, he returned to China — and was detained in October alongside fellow church leaders. His daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, told a congressional committee in November that she had not seen her father in six years.
By the Numbers
- 18 — Zion Church leaders detained in October
- At least 8 — members of Zion Church still held in China, according to Human Rights Watch
- 6 years — the length of time Pastor Jin’s daughter had gone without seeing him as of last fall
- May 2025 — the month Trump raised Jin’s case with Xi during a Beijing state visit
- 20 years — the prison sentence handed to Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai in February
Zoom Out
Pastor Jin’s release is one part of a larger picture of religious and political detention in China. Trump also raised the case of 78-year-old Jimmy Lai — the Hong Kong media entrepreneur and pro-democracy advocate who received a 20-year sentence in February — during the same Beijing talks. Lai remains imprisoned.
Maya Wang of Human Rights Watch welcomed Pastor Jin’s release but cautioned that the broader situation remains unresolved. “At least 8 members of Zion Church remain detained in China,” Wang said. “They should all be freed.”
China’s restrictions on unregistered religious groups have drawn sustained criticism from U.S. policymakers and international human rights organizations for years. House churches and underground congregations — those that operate outside the state-sanctioned religious bureaucracy — have faced periodic crackdowns, but observers say the scope of the Zion Church detentions stands out even against that backdrop.
What’s Next
The fate of the remaining detained Zion Church members is uncertain. Human rights advocates are pressing for their release, and Pastor Jin’s case may renew congressional interest in applying diplomatic pressure on behalf of the group. Grace Jin Drexel’s November testimony before a congressional committee established a legislative record that could support further oversight or formal resolutions calling for the detainees’ freedom.
The Lai case, meanwhile, presents a harder diplomatic test. Unlike Pastor Jin, Lai was convicted under Hong Kong’s national security law and sentenced to two decades in prison — a case that carries significant political weight for Beijing and has drawn condemnation from the U.S. government and allied nations.