Underground church leader Jin Mingri has been released from prison in China and has traveled to the United States, less than two months after his incarceration was directly addressed by then-President Donald Trump. Jin, the pastor and founder of the Zion Church, had been imprisoned following overnight raids across China in October, which Christian groups described as one of the most severe crackdowns on religious activity in the country's recent history.
The Chinese government maintains tight control over religion and officially promotes atheism. Jin's family expressed gratitude to supporters in a statement, calling his release a "miracle." The family also thanked the U.S. president and the Trump administration for their "tremendous leadership," and acknowledged that the release "could not have happened without the direct intervention from [Chinese President] Xi Jinping."
US-based advocacy group ChinaAid, which monitors religious persecution, confirmed Jin, also known as Ezra Jin, arrived in Los Angeles following his release. Bob Fu, the founder of ChinaAid, welcomed Jin's freedom but noted that "countless" other religious practitioners, including eight from the Zion Church, remain incarcerated in China.
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group of Western lawmakers, also expressed joy over the news.
Trump had urged Xi to release Jin during direct talks in Beijing in May, stating afterward that the Chinese president "said he's gonna strongly consider the pastor." Trump also raised the detention of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who was sentenced earlier this year to 20 years in prison under the city's national security law.
Jin founded the Zion Church in 2007 with 20 members. It grew to become one of China's largest unregistered churches, with a network of approximately 10,000 people in 40 cities. The church was officially banned by the Chinese Communist Party in 2018 after it resisted government demands to install security cameras on its Beijing property. Many of its branches have since been investigated and shut down.
Unregistered churches in China face pressure to join state-sanctioned religious organizations, which are overseen by government-approved leaders and adhere to the party's directives. In October, 30 church leaders were reportedly detained in overnight raids, followed by a similar crackdown in January where nine individuals were detained.