Pastor says transfer to U.S. was sudden and unexplained
Chinese Christian pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, 57, was released on July 3 from a detention center in southern China and put on a plane to the United States, he told the Associated Press. The release came weeks after President Donald Trump raised Jin’s case directly with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a May meeting, an intervention that Jin called “a miracle.”
Jin had been held since October and had feared he would spend at least 15 years in prison, he said. Within 24 hours, he was 15 time zones away — eating an In-N-Out hamburger in Los Angeles and watching fireworks with his family the night before Independence Day, which this year marked America’s 250th anniversary.
“It’s so dramatic. It’s unimaginable,” Jin said.
Jin leads one of China’s most influential underground churches, which operate without government registration and face official restrictions. His detention was part of a broader crackdown on religious groups and political dissent.
Trump, who raised Jin’s case during a trip to China, told reporters afterward that Xi had agreed to give “serious consideration” to releasing the pastor. Trump also raised the case of imprisoned Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, describing Lai’s situation as a “tough one.” Lai remains imprisoned.
The release of a high-profile Chinese detainee following a U.S. request is a rare event; the Associated Press noted that Beijing’s leadership has become more unyielding to foreign pressure under Xi, making Jin’s freedom an outlier.