Pastor Ezra Jin at Zion Church courtesy of his daughter, Grace Jin Drexel.
Grace Jin Drexel
Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri is a courageous man who has actively sought to win souls for Christ in his ministry as lead pastor of Zion Church, one of the largest unregistered churches in China. Three weeks ago, Pastor Jin and nearly 30 other pastors and associates of Zion Church were detained and are now awaiting their formal sentence at the hands of the CCP. Pastor Jin faces allegations of “illegal dissemination of information online” for leading online prayer gatherings that often attracted as many as 10,000 people.
Pastor Jin’s case is incredibly unique. Given the recent nature of his detention, he has been charged but is not yet sentenced for his so-called crimes. He also has three children who are American citizens, and his entire nuclear family, including his wife, is based in the U.S. This makes Pastor Jin’s case a high priority and a national security concern for the U.S. government.
This week, President Trump met with Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea. The recent meeting presented a valuable opportunity for the President to not only make progress on the U.S. trade agenda, but also to call for the release of high priority political prisoners. Encouragingly, the case of pro-democracy advocate and Apple Daily Founder, Jimmy Lai, was allegedly raised, but it is not clear that other political prisoners were highlighted.
As U.S. and Chinese counterparts implement agreed-upon terms of the deal in the weeks ahead, the U.S. should reiterate calls for Jimmy Lai’s release and press for the unequivocal release and safe return of other high priority political prisoners, including those with American citizen family members, like Pastor Ezra Jin, Uyghur doctor Gulshan Abbas, and prominent Uyghur economist, Ilham Tohti, among others. Releasing Pastor Jin and Zion associates along with other high priority political prisoners could be a much-needed sign of good faith from the CCP to achieve successful implementation of the trade deal.
This is hardly the first time that the CCP has taken political prisoners in the lead-up to diplomatic negotiations. The CCP has an established a pattern of imprisoning or forcibly disappearing people on the cusp of high-profile international events. The party initiated a crackdown on Early Rain Covenant Church and detained lead pastor, Wang Yi, in 2018 amidst previous trade negotiations. He is currently serving out a nine-year sentence behind bars. In the lead-up to the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Chinese Olympic tennis player Peng Shuai, was forcibly disappeared after she credibly accused a high ranking CCP political leader of sexual assault. And now, amidst ongoing trade negotiations between the U.S. and China, the largest crackdown on a single unregistered church in over 40 years is underway with the targeting of Zion Church.
The U.S. should make full use of the leverage it has after APEC to not only send the message that the CCP’s pointed acts of political prisoner taking are not without consequence, but to demonstrate that the U.S. stands on the side of freedom.
Pastor Jin, in a letter from prison, wrote the following:
May Pastor Jin’s own words embolden President Trump as he considers boldly calling on the CCP to set captives, like Pastor Jin and others, free.
The author would like to express gratitude to Ellie Rits, a graduate of Patrick Henry College, for her substantial research and writing contributions to this piece.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliviaenos/2025/11/03/the-us-should-press-china-to-release-political-prisoners-after-apec/
