The United States has called for the release of 30 leaders from one of China’s largest underground church networks who were arrested over the weekend during coordinated overnight raids in several cities.
Among those detained is Zion Church founder, Pastor Jin Mingri, who was reportedly taken from his home in the early hours of Saturday after 10 police officers searched his residence, according to the US-based non-profit, ChinaAid.
China, which officially promotes atheism, allows only state-approved religious groups to operate. Christian groups say the latest arrests represent one of the most severe crackdowns on underground churches in decades.
It remains unclear if the detained pastors and leaders have been formally charged.
Zion Church said in a statement that “such systematic persecution is not only an affront to the Church of God but also a public challenge to the international community.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the arrests on Sunday, saying the crackdown “shows how the Chinese Communist Party continues to show hostility toward Christians who refuse Party control and choose to worship freely.”
Former US vice president Mike Pence and former secretary of state Mike Pompeo also issued separate statements on X denouncing the arrests.
When asked about the matter at a press conference, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said he was unaware of the case but insisted that “the Chinese government governs religious affairs in accordance with the law and protects the religious freedom of citizens.” He also warned the US to “stop interfering in China’s internal affairs with so-called religious issues.”
The arrests come amid renewed trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, raising questions over whether a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month will still hold.
Under Xi, China has tightened control over religious activities, especially targeting Christians and Muslims. At a 2016 national conference on religion, Xi urged that religious groups should “serve the interests of the Chinese nation.”
Zion Church, founded in 2007 by Pastor Jin with about 20 members, has since grown to more than 10,000 followers across 40 cities. It was banned in 2018 after refusing to install government surveillance cameras. Pastor Jin and several church leaders were briefly detained, and his family later relocated to the US while he remained in China.
Despite the ban, the church continued holding small gatherings and streaming its sermons online.
ChinaAid described the recent mass arrests as “the most extensive and coordinated wave of persecution” against Christians in over four decades.
“This new nationwide campaign echoes the darkest days of the 1980s when urban churches first re-emerged from the Cultural Revolution,” said ChinaAid founder Bob Fu.
In a letter shared by ChinaAid, Pastor Jin’s wife, Liu Chunli, expressed her distress, writing that her heart was “filled with shock, grief, sorrow, worry, and righteous anger.”
She wrote, “My husband simply did what any faithful pastor would do. He is innocent.”
Several underground churches across China have since issued statements demanding the release of the detained leaders.
Sean Long, a Zion Church pastor based in the United States, said Pastor Jin had long expected a nationwide crackdown.
During a recent Zoom conversation between the two pastors, Long recalled asking what would happen if Jin and the other leaders were arrested.
Jin reportedly replied, “Hallelujah! For a new wave of revival will follow then.”
