**Washington DC: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio Condemns China’s Detention of Zion Church Leaders**

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday condemned China’s detention of several leaders of Zion Church, an underground Christian congregation in China. The United States called for their immediate release.

In a post on X, Rubio stated, “The United States condemns the Chinese Communist Party’s recent detention of dozens of leaders of the unregistered Zion Church in China, including prominent pastor Mingri ‘Ezra’ Jin. We call for their immediate release.”

According to Pastor Jin’s family and members of the church, Chinese authorities have detained the pastor of one of the country’s most prominent underground churches along with dozens of other affiliates. This has raised concerns about a renewed crackdown on religious freedom, The New York Times reported.

Pastor Jin Mingri, also known as Ezra, founded Beijing Zion Church in 2007. The church grew to become one of the largest unofficial congregations in China, with several satellite campuses and over 1,000 attendees at weekend services.

Jin, 56, was detained on Friday at his home in Beihai, Guangxi Province, according to his daughter, Grace Jin, who resides in the United States. Around the same time, nearly 30 other Zion Church pastors or workers were taken into custody or went missing in cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, she said.

Calls to Beihai police went unanswered on Sunday. Jin’s family has been unable to contact him but heard from other church members—some of whom were later released—that he is being accused of illegal dissemination of religious information, according to The New York Times.

While the Chinese Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, in practice, the Chinese Communist Party permits only state-approved congregations to operate openly. Nevertheless, tens of millions of Chinese Christians are estimated to worship in underground or “house” churches.

Under President Xi Jinping, persecution of these unofficial congregations has intensified, alongside a broader crackdown on religion, particularly targeting Islam. In 2018, a nationwide campaign led to the closure of several prominent house churches, including Beijing Zion.

The government regularly encourages citizens to report unsanctioned religious gatherings, sometimes labeling them as cults, to the authorities.

Since 2018, Pastor Jin experienced frequent surveillance and harassment, forcing him to leave Beijing. He was also barred from leaving China to visit family members who relocated abroad that year. Currently, Jin’s daughter, mother, and two younger brothers live in the United States.

Despite these challenges, Jin continued to lead Zion Church by holding smaller, scattered gatherings and sharing sermon videos online. During the COVID-19 pandemic, while many churches ceased operations, Zion’s congregation grew rapidly, reaching audiences of up to 10,000 across China on platforms including Zoom, YouTube, and WeChat.

In recent months, concerns about another crackdown grew among Zion members. Surveillance on Jin intensified, and in September, the government issued new regulations restricting religious activity online to officially registered channels.

Jin had proposed to state security officers that he might retire from his leadership role to join his family abroad, but the officers refused to allow him to leave China, according to The New York Times.

“After this kind of posturing, it seemed like something big was going to happen again,” Jin’s daughter said. “We just didn’t know when or to what extent. But I also feel like my dad is always the optimist.”

She added, “He is sort of like, ‘Well, I can’t live in fear every day, so I’m just going to continue on with what I need to do.’”

Following the news of Jin’s arrest, former US Vice President Mike Pence called on the Chinese government to release him in a post on X.

Corey Jackson, founder of Luke Alliance—a US-based group advocating for persecuted Christians in China—described the recent detentions as “without a doubt” the largest crackdown on Christianity in China since 2018.

“If this is the first move, then it could be far worse down the line,” Jackson said. However, he expressed confidence that Chinese Christians would continue to gather.

“The Chinese church is probably stronger than the world realises, maybe stronger than the Communist Party realises,” he said. “And I think that’s part of the problem the Communist Party is facing.”

*Note: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.*
https://www.freepressjournal.in/world/us-denounces-chinas-detention-of-leaders-of-zion-church