politics
Trump Says He Will Raise Detained Pastor Ezra Jin's Case With Xi Jinping in Beijing
Grace Drexel, whose father Pastor Ezra Jin has been detained in China for seven months, expressed hope that President Donald Trump would secure his release during meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Chinese authorities arrested 18 leaders of Zion Church after years of pressure that included demands for facial-recognition cameras and eventual shutdown of its sanctuary.
May 14, 6:00 AM·2m read1 source
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President Donald Trump told a reporter "I’ll bring it up" when asked if he would discuss detained Pastor Ezra Jin during his visit to Beijing for meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Grace Drexel, five weeks before the birth of her third child, spoke to Fox News Digital in Washington expressing hope for her father's release. ," Drexel stated.
Pastor Ezra Jin has been detained in China for the past seven months. Chinese authorities formally arrested 18 leaders of underground Zion Church. Grace Drexel has not seen her father in person since 2020.
Her mother and younger brothers fled China in 2018 after authorities shut down Zion Church’s physical sanctuary in Beijing. Pastor Ezra Jin chose to stay in China with his community instead of applying for a green card. "My father actually had many opportunities to apply for a green card," Drexel said.
Drexel tearfully recounted that relatives learned Pastor Ezra Jin had been handcuffed, his head shaved, and that he was struggling to receive medication while in detention. "And this kind and gentle man is now in prison," she said. " Pressure on Zion Church intensified around 2016 and 2017 after Xi Jinping rewrote China’s religious regulations and advanced the "Sinicization" of religion policy.
Government officials demanded that Zion Church install facial-recognition cameras inside its sanctuary. Zion Church refused to install facial-recognition cameras, stating all services are public. Authorities installed surveillance cameras in Zion Church’s lobby after the church refused internal cameras.
