Daughter of Detained Chinese Pastor Urges Trump to Secure Father's Release in Xi Meeting

When President Donald Trump meets Chinese President Xi Jinping in the coming weeks, much of the world will watch for agreements on trade, Taiwan and global security. But the daughter of a detained Chinese pastor wants Trump to focus on her father's release.

Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri founded Zion Church in China. It started in 2007 with 20 people. His passion grew the church, drawing attention from authorities.

Dozens of church staff have faced detention or harassment over the years. In 2018, officials banned the church and seized its property after leaders refused to install surveillance cameras. To avoid more pressure on members, Jin shifted to online sermons and satellite locations across the country. Soon, it reached 10,000 people in 40 cities, one of China's largest house churches.

Last October, authorities detained Jin and nearly 30 other pastors and members in what observers call the most extensive crackdown on faith in decades. Eighteen, including Jin, remain in custody on charges of illegally using information networks by sharing biblical teachings online.

The detainees have no outside contact except lawyers, and authorities are pressuring those lawyers to drop the case. Lead defense lawyer Zhang Kai, who represented Jin, lost his law license in January. Six others received six-month suspensions. The rest faced harassment, intimidation and threats.

Jin suffers from severe type 2 diabetes that has required hospitalization before. He needs specialized care, but officials denied his grandmother permission to deliver his medication when he was first detained. China has a record of withholding medical treatment from political prisoners.

Jin is no criminal, his daughter writes. He promotes compassion and aid to the needy, in line with Christian and Chinese values. In 2008, Zion Church helped earthquake victims in Sichuan. It supported broken marriages, depressed children and the poor, and held annual blood drives until 2018.

The case challenges American values rooted in fleeing religious persecution, she argues. Freedom of religion sits in the First Amendment and the Trump administration's National Security Strategy.

Ambassador Sam Brownback called China's crackdown on Christians a national security imperative. He said if the world's largest authoritarian state eradicates religious freedom without consequences, it undermines America's founding values and global leadership.

Chinese authorities have targeted the family in the U.S. for speaking out. The writer's mother got a threatening call from someone posing as a U.S. federal agent, urging her to return to China. Her car tires were slashed. The writer faced surveillance in Washington, D.C., and her husband endured state-backed hacking attempts.

Xi Jinping has called for mutual respect and cooperation between China and the U.S. by 2026. But the writer says that cannot happen while China jails relatives of U.S. citizens for their faith and extends repression abroad.

An exit ban has kept Jin from leaving China since 2018. The writer's two children have never met him in person. She expects her third child in two months and hopes Jin can attend.