Ezra Jin, also known as Jin Mingri, flew from China to Los Angeles on 4 July, reuniting with his family after 266 days in detention, according to US-based rights organisations and his family. His release was presented by Chinese officials as a “goodwill gesture” coinciding with America’s Independence Day, following direct discussions between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping during Trump’s state visit to Beijing in May. Trump had subsequently said Xi would “strongly consider” freeing the pastor. Jin had been held since October, when he and dozens of other leaders of the unregistered Zion Church were detained in a sweep against house churches.

The family’s statement, issued by daughter Grace Jin Drexel, who had testified before the US Congress, thanked Trump’s administration for “tremendous leadership” and acknowledged that “this could not have happened without the direct intervention from President Xi Jinping.” The White House has not issued a formal comment, but the framing of the move as a bilateral goodwill gesture indicates, according to analysts in Washington, a calibrated concession that validates direct presidential diplomacy. Beijing’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Jin’s release unfolds against a wider crackdown on China’s underground Christian communities that, according to human rights groups and US-based advocacy organisations, has intensified under Xi. Christianity is legal but only in state-sanctioned “patriotic” churches; unregistered house churches are deemed illegal. Zion Church, founded in 2007 in Beijing, grew to an estimated 10,000 followers across 40 cities before its physical premises were forced to close in 2018 and it moved online. In October, police detained Jin and 17 other church leaders in simultaneous raids described by Christian groups as the largest single-church crackdown in decades. At least eight other Zion members remain in detention; raids on other groups, including the Early Rain Covenant Church, have continued this year. Official estimates put China’s Christian population at 44 million, but unregistered believers may number up to 130 million.

Viewed from European capitals and Washington, Jin’s freedom is a rare instance of a Chinese national apparently released through US lobbying, following the 2024 release of American pastor David Lin after two decades of State Department efforts. While Jin’s family and inter-parliamentary groups in the West expressed hope for a “positive turn” for religious freedom, analysts caution that the broader crackdown has not eased. Nine others, including Jin, had their cases transferred to prosecutors on charges of illegal business operations and fraud before his sudden release, according to the church. Trump also raised the detention of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai during his Beijing talks, but Xi reportedly termed that case “difficult” and Lai remains in prison. The timetable for processing the remaining Zion detainees is not publicly known.