Senator Durbin Urges China to Free Political Prisoners Before Xi’s US Visit

‘There is simply no reason to fear these people who have done nothing but otherwise exercise peaceful freedom of religion,’ Sen. Dick Durbin said.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 14, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is urging Beijing to release eight members of one of China’s most prominent underground churches, along with several other high-profile political prisoners ahead of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s scheduled U.S. visit in September.

The leader of Zion Church, Ezra Jin Mingri, was released earlier this month after U.S. President Donald Trump advocated for the pastor’s release during his trip to China in May, when he met with Xi.

Durbin, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the plea on the Senate floor on July 27, following a meeting with Jin, his daughter, and his grandson at his office on July 23.

Jin spent 266 days in a Chinese prison, Durbin said.

“His crime? He was operating a church, a Christian church,” he added. “And at least eight of his congregants remain imprisoned,” he said.

Jin, 57, was detained at his home in October 2025 as part of a broader operation by Chinese authorities targeting the church. Several other pastors and congregants were also detained.

On July 4, Drexel confirmed that her father had been released.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Jin said he had resigned himself to spending at least 15 years in prison before his unexpected release. He called his release “a miracle” and credited Trump’s “unique diplomacy” for helping secure his freedom.

Durbin also urged China to release the remaining eight members of Jin’s church, as well as Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife, Pang Yu; Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and ex-publisher Jimmy Lai; and two Uyghurs, Dr. Gulshan Abbas and Ekpar Asat. The five were named in a Senate resolution introduced by Durbin and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that passed in May, urging Trump to press Xi for their release ahead of the two leaders’ meeting.

“This would be a welcome move before President Xi’s visit in September, as there is simply no reason to fear these people who have done nothing but otherwise exercise peaceful freedom of religion and expression,” Durbin said.

Trump said on July 23 that Xi will visit the United States on Sept. 24.

As of July 6, the eight members of Jin’s church who remain detained are Pastors Yin Huibin, Gao Yingjia, Wang Lin, Liu Zhenbin, Lin Shucheng and Wang Cong, along with Preacher Wu Qiuyu and Elder Wang Zhong, according to an announcement by Texas-based religious freedom nonprofit ChinaAid.

In an X post on July 8, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) has also called for the unconditional release of the eight remaining leaders.

Lai, 78, an outspoken critic of China’s communist regime who founded the now-defunct newspaper Apple Daily, has now spent more than 2,000 days in prison since his arrest in 2020. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in February.

Jin has met with at least a dozen lawmakers, from both sides of the aisle, since his release, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Sens. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Reps. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) and Chris Smith (R-N.J.).

The same day the Senate passed the Durbin–Cruz resolution, the House approved a similar measure introduced by Smith, co-chair of the CECC.

Smith said in a July 5 statement that Jin’s release was an example of how engagement can make a difference, not only for those eight church leaders and Christians, but also for religious groups such as Buddhists, Muslims, and Falun Gong practitioners.