The United States government has strongly condemned the People’s Republic of China for the recent, sweeping detention of an influential underground church’s leadership and has called for their immediate release. This latest crackdown, which saw the arrest of the prominent Pastor Mingri "Ezra" Jin and nearly 30 other pastors and workers from the Zion Church network, signals a significant escalation in the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of unregistered religious groups across the country.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement on Sunday denouncing the actions, highlighting the detainees' rejection of Party interference in their faith as the underlying reason for the persecution. Zion Church, which was once among Beijing's largest unofficial congregations, had continued to grow its influence through online services since being formally shut down by authorities in 2018. The arrests took place across multiple cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, indicating a coordinated, nationwide effort to dismantle the network.
Church family members and advocacy groups report that Pastor Jin and others were detained on what are being described as non-religious charges, such as “illegal dissemination of religious information via the internet.” This follows new government regulations limiting online religious activity to officially registered channels. The use of such technical charges is a common strategy by Chinese authorities to mask the persecution of religious practice and avoid international criticism of their restrictions on faith communities. Advocacy groups have labeled the detentions as one of the most extensive and coordinated waves of persecution against Chinese house churches in recent memory.
The detentions highlight the fundamental conflict between the Chinese Constitution’s nominal guarantee of freedom of religion and the Communist Party's practical reality of only allowing tightly controlled, state approved congregations to operate openly. Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, there has been a sustained, intensifying campaign to "Sinicize" all religions, demanding loyalty to the officially atheist Party and crushing any independent religious movement perceived as a challenge to its absolute power. The US call for release underscores the ongoing diplomatic friction between Washington and Beijing over human rights, with religious freedom remaining a contentious and prominent issue in the bilateral relationship. International observers fear this widespread sweep could lead to prolonged prison sentences for the church leaders and herald an even broader crackdown on the country's independent Christian movement.
