Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri was released from detention in China and arrived in Los Angeles, his family and rights advocates said, less than two months after President Donald Trump raised his case with Xi Jinping.
Jin was detained in October alongside 17 other leaders of Beijing's Zion Church in what rights groups described as one of China's largest crackdowns on a single church in decades.
Frances Hui of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation wrote on X that Jin "is finally reunited with his family." A family statement thanked President Donald Trump and said the family believed the release could not have happened without Xi Jinping's direct intervention, adding, "We hope this is a signal of a positive turn for people of faith in China and relations between our two nations."
Human Rights Watch's Maya Wang wrote on X, "At least 8 members of Zion Church remain detained in China." Brian Tronic of Freedom House said, "While his release will bring much-needed comfort to his family, friends and many supporters, we cannot forget the leaders and members of Zion Church who remain detained, and others associated with the church who still face serious criminal charges." Bob Fu, founder and president of ChinaAid, thanked President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. officials for securing Jin's release, but urged the administration to continue making "religious freedom and the release of all prisoners of faith a top priority in every engagement with Beijing." The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China posted on X that it was "overjoyed" and added, "We send our best wishes to him and his family, and sincerely thank the diplomats and others who worked so hard behind the scenes to make the impossible happen."
Jin founded Zion Church in 2007 with about 20 worshippers and it grew into one of China's largest independent Protestant churches operating outside the state-approved religious system; authorities banned the church in 2018 and many affiliated congregations have since become underground or been shut down. "My father started Zion in order to worship freely in a church that put God as the sole head of our church, like many faithful Christians everywhere," Jin's daughter Grace Jin Drexel told a congressional committee in November.
Trump told reporters on his flight home from Beijing that, "He's gonna strongly consider the pastor," but said Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai's case "would be a tough one." The 78-year-old Lai received a 20-year sentence in February.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.