A pastor of a prominent underground church who was detained in China in October has been released, less than two months after U.S. President Donald Trump brought up his case when meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, according to rights advocates.
Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, of the underground Zion Church, arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday (July 4), and “is finally reunited with his family,” Frances Hui of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation wrote on X.
Incredible to hear that #PastorEzraJin is free, has just arrived in LA, and is finally reunited with his family.🥹It has been a privilege to stand beside @GraceJDrexel & witness her strength with @bill_drexel's support as they fought for her father's freedom. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/6qlWlEYffY— Frances Hui 許穎婷 (@frances_hui) July 4, 2026
Incredible to hear that #PastorEzraJin is free, has just arrived in LA, and is finally reunited with his family.🥹It has been a privilege to stand beside @GraceJDrexel & witness her strength with @bill_drexel's support as they fought for her father's freedom. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/6qlWlEYffY
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group of Western lawmakers, also reported his release and shared a photo of the pastor with his daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, both smiling.
Pastor Jin was detained with 17 other church leaders in October in one of China’s largest crackdowns on a single church in decades, raising worries over Beijing’s escalation in curtailing religious freedom.
