Chinese Authorities Release Pastor Months After US President’s Appeal

A pastor of an unregistered church in China has been released from detention, according to human rights advocates, weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump raised his case during a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri of the underground Zion Church arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday, July 4, and is now with his family, Frances Hui of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation wrote on social media. The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group of Western lawmakers, also confirmed the release and shared a photo of the pastor smiling with his daughter.

Pastor Jin was detained in October along with 17 other church leaders during one of China’s largest crackdowns on a single unregistered church in recent decades. The detention raised concerns among international observers over religious freedom in China.

China maintains that all religious activities must be conducted within the framework of its laws, and that unregistered churches operating without official approval are subject to legal action. The Chinese government has stated that it protects lawful religious practices while preventing illegal activities under the guise of religion.

The timing of the release, coming after Trump’s intervention, has drawn attention but no official confirmation of a direct link. The U.S. president had raised the pastor’s case during a meeting with Xi in Beijing in November, according to White House statements.

Religious freedom remains a contentious issue in U.S.-China relations. Beijing rejects what it calls interference in its internal affairs and insists that all countries have the right to manage religious affairs according to their own laws and circumstances.