In one of the largest crackdowns on underground Christian movements in decades, Chinese authorities have detained Pastor Jin Mingri, founder of the influential Zion Church network, along with at least 30 other church leaders and members across multiple cities.
The coordinated arrests, carried out last weekend in Beijing, Shanghai, and several other regions, mark a major escalation in the government’s campaign against unregistered “house churches.” Pastor Jin was reportedly taken from Beihai city in Guangxi province and is being held at Beihai Number Two Prison, accused of the “illegal use of information networks,” according to an official detention notice.
Jin’s daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, who resides in the United States, said her family grew concerned after receiving a message from her father asking for prayers for another pastor who had gone missing in Shenzhen. Hours later, Jin himself became unreachable.
Rights groups and Christian advocacy organisations have condemned the move, describing it as part of a broader effort to suppress religious freedom. Corey Jackson of the Luke Alliance called the operation “unprecedented” and warned that “this is just the beginning of a larger crackdown.”
Founded in 2007, Zion Church is one of China’s most prominent independent congregations, attracting thousands of worshippers through more than 100 branches nationwide. The church refused to register under China’s state-sanctioned Protestant movement and was forcibly closed in 2018 after rejecting government demands to install surveillance cameras in its premises.
Following its closure, Zion Church continued to operate through online sermons and small in-person gatherings — a model now targeted under new regulations tightening online religious activities. A code of conduct introduced in September restricts online worship to licensed organisations, effectively outlawing independent virtual religious services.
Chinese authorities maintain that citizens enjoy freedom of religion “in accordance with the law,” insisting that all religious groups must comply with national regulations.
However, human rights advocates argue that Beijing’s interpretation of “lawful religion” is a tool to bring all worship under Communist Party control. Pastor Sean Long, a Zion Church spokesperson now based in the US, described the detentions as a “systematic roundup” intended to intimidate other Christian groups.
“Zion is the chicken,” he said, citing a Chinese idiom. “They are killing the chicken to scare the monkeys.”
Born in Heilongjiang province in 1969, Pastor Jin turned to Christianity after witnessing the Tiananmen Square crackdown as a university student. He later rejected the state-run church system, saying it “served two masters — God and the Communist Party.”
Despite the latest arrests, Zion members have vowed to continue their faith practices. “Persecution cannot destroy the church,” said Pastor Long. “If you look back to history, where there is repression, there’s revival.”
