Beijing Launches Sweeping Crackdown Against Zion Church in China

Over 30 church leaders and believers have been detained or disappeared, Zion Church says.

Jin Mingri, head pastor of the Zion Church, poses in Beijing on Sept. 12, 2018. He was detained at his home in Beihai, a city in southeast China’s Guangxi Province, on Oct. 10, 2025. Fred Dufour/AFP via Getty Images

China’s communist regime has launched a broad crackdown on pastors and members of one of the largest unregistered house churches in the nation, drawing criticism from current and former U.S. officials, as well as human rights groups.

Zion Church said in a statement on Oct. 12 that China had launched a “sweeping operation” across five provinces, Beijing, and Shanghai three days earlier, detaining or disappearing more than 30 church leaders and members. The statement was shared by ChinaAid, a Texas-based human rights advocacy group.

The church said its worship venues were “raided and sealed,” property was confiscated, and family members of church members were harassed.

“All detained pastors and members of Zion Church are innocent Christians. Their only ‘offense’ is worshiping God peacefully, preaching the Gospel faithfully, shepherding their flock, and serving their neighbors,” the church’s pastoral team said in a statement. “These acts of faith are protected under both the Constitution of China and international human rights law.”

On Oct. 12, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement condemning the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over its decision to target Zion Church.

“This ... further demonstrates how the CCP exercises hostility towards Christians who reject Party interference in their faith and choose to worship at unregistered house churches,” Rubio stated.

“We call on the CCP to immediately release the detained church leaders and to allow all people of faith, including members of house churches, to engage in religious activities without fear of retribution.”

Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri

Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri was detained at his home in Beihai, a city in southeast China’s Guangxi Province, on Oct. 10. His daughter, Grace Jin, who lives in the United States, believes the CCP’s latest crackdown has to do with Zion Church’s growing influence and challenge to its rule.

“Zion blew up after COVID, so that irked the government,” she said.

She said her father brought the family to the United States after Chinese authorities began targeting Zion Church in 2018. However, he later returned to China despite knowing the risks, she added, noting that they haven’t seen each other in six years.

“He felt that, as a pastor, he had to be with the flock,” she said. “He had always been prepared for something like this.”

In 2018, a nationwide campaign targeted many underground churches in China, leading to the closure of Zion Church’s main sanctuary. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the church experienced a surge in membership after it began hosting online prayer sessions, drawing believers who were unable to attend services at state-sanctioned churches that often were shut down due to pandemic restrictions.

Another Zion Church pastor, Sean Long, who is currently studying in the United States, said the church’s membership had grown from about 1,500 in 2018 to an estimated 5,000 today, with more than 100 worship sites in apartments, restaurants, and even karaoke bars in about 40 cities in China.

“This is a very disturbing and distressing moment,” Long said. “This is a brutal violation of freedom of religion, which is written into the Chinese Constitution. We want our pastors to be released immediately.”

The House’s Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence called on Beijing to release Jin on Oct. 11.

“There is no freedom of religion in China. The CCP routinely persecutes people of faith and Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri is its latest victim. China should immediately release Pastor Mingri and end the religious persecution of all Chinese people,” the committee stated on X on Oct. 11.

“The Chinese Communist Party must release Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri and other Christian leaders immediately. This attack on Christianity will not prevail,” Pence wrote on X.

Mike Pompeo, former secretary of state under the first Trump administration, called China’s action against Jin “deeply concerning,” in an X post.

“China is the greatest threat to religious freedom on Earth,” Pompeo added.

The Chinese regime has been waging a war against faith for over 100 years, with successive Party leaders having launched campaign after campaign to suppress and control the religious communities in China.

Pastor Wang Cong

Pastor Wang Cong of Zion Church was among those detained by Chinese authorities. In an open letter released on Oct. 12, her husband, Ren Zhong, stated that individuals from the Beihai Public Security Bureau, without showing any identification or legal document, abruptly cut off electricity to their residence before breaking down the door to enter at around 9:30 p.m. local time on Oct. 10.

Ren said the individuals separated his wife and their three-year-old daughter, and they seized his personal properties, including books and a computer.

“In the end, they forcibly took my wife away amid the crying of our child,” Ren wrote.

Ren demanded that Chinese authorities explain the legal basis for their action, allow a lawyer to meet with the family, and release his wife as soon as possible.

ChinaAid has published the names of victims under China’s latest crackdown against Zion Church. Among them is Preacher Wang Rong, who was taken away by police from his home in Fuzhou, a city in southern China’s Fujian Province, on Oct. 10. According to the group, Wang’s home was searched and his phone, computer, and other personal items were confiscated.

Bob Fu, founder and president of ChinaAid, released a statement on Oct. 11 condemning China’s actions against Zion Church. He called on the United States and its allies, as well as the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, to pursue “accountability and raise this issue at the highest diplomatic levels.”

“We are witnessing the most extensive and coordinated wave of persecution against urban independent house churches in China in over four decades,” Fu stated. “The Chinese Communist Party remains determined to eradicate any form of independent civil faith community that does not submit to state control.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.