Beijing: The United States has called on China to release 30 leaders of one of the country’s largest underground Christian networks, who were reportedly detained over the weekend during coordinated raids across multiple cities.
The arrests include pastors and Jin Mingri, founder of the influential Zion Church, who was taken into custody after authorities searched his home early Saturday morning, according to the US-based non-profit ChinaAid.
The crackdown is being described by some Christian groups as the most extensive persecution of religious believers in China in decades. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which promotes atheism and tightly regulates religious activity, requires Christians to worship only in state-sanctioned churches led by government-approved pastors. Those who resist are often subject to harassment, detention, or closure of their congregations.
It is currently unclear whether the detainees have been formally charged, and Beijing has not publicly commented on the arrests. Zion Church, in a statement, condemned the actions, calling the crackdown “not only an affront to the Church of God but also a public challenge to the international community.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Beijing to release the detained leaders, stating that the raids “further demonstrate how the CCP exercises hostility towards Christians who reject Party interference in their faith and choose to worship at unregistered house churches.” Former US officials, including Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo, also condemned the arrests on social media.
The mass detentions could heighten tensions between the US and China, which are already under strain due to trade disputes and tariffs. There is uncertainty over whether a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month will proceed.
Under Xi, religious groups have faced increasingly strict oversight, particularly Christians and Muslims. In 2016, Xi called on the Party to “guide those who are religious to love their country, protect the unification of their motherland and serve the overall interests of the Chinese nation.” Despite these measures, underground house churches have continued to grow.
Zion Church, founded in 2007 by Jin Mingri with just 20 members, now serves some 10,000 people in 40 cities, making it one of the largest unregistered churches in China. The Party officially banned the church in 2018 after it resisted government demands to install surveillance cameras. Since then, several branch congregations have been investigated and closed, and Jin himself has been barred from leaving the country, though his family moved to the United States for safety.
ChinaAid called the recent roundups “unprecedented,” labeling it the most extensive and coordinated wave of persecution against Christians in over 40 years. Bob Fu, ChinaAid’s founder, compared it to the darkest days of the 1980s, when urban churches first re-emerged after the Cultural Revolution.
In a letter seeking prayers, Jin’s wife Liu Chunli described her heartbreak over the arrests, calling her husband “innocent” and expressing sorrow over years of separation from her family.
Meanwhile, several house churches have issued public appeals for the release of the detained leaders.
Despite the crackdown, Zion Church continues to operate, with Jin reportedly seeing the arrests as an opportunity for renewed faith. In a recent conversation with a US-based pastor, Jin said, “Hallelujah! For a new wave of revival will follow then.”