The daughter of a detained Chinese Christian pastor has called on US lawmakers to intervene as her father faces formal charges in China.
Grace Jin Drexel appeared before a congressional panel on Thursday, urging action to secure the release of her father, Ezra Jin Mingri, and 17 other leaders of the underground Zion Church.
The leaders were detained in October during one of China’s largest crackdowns on a single unregistered church in decades.
“My father started Zion to worship freely with God as the sole head of our church,” Jin Drexel said. “Worshippers were harassed, threatened, and interrogated,” she aded.
Zion Church, founded in 2007 in Beijing, serves thousands and has consistently resisted Communist Party restrictions on religious gatherings, including in 2018 when church leaders refused to install facial recognition cameras.
The 18 leaders now face charges of illegally using information networks, potentially carrying sentences of up to three years. UK based rights group CSW estimated the church serves at least 5,000 members and reaches up to 10,000 people daily through its hybrid online and offline model.
In solidarity, hundreds of Christians and church leaders from more than 45 countries have signed an online prayer petition calling on China to release the detained leaders, as previously reported by Premier Christian News.
Bill Drexel, Jin Mingri’s son-in-law, said it is believed to be the first time Christians worldwide, including from countries with close ties to China, have jointly spoken out for the persecuted church. The petition urges China to allow Christians to “worship freely, serve their communities openly, and live out their faith without fear.”
At the congressional hearing, lawmakers praised US efforts to support Christians worldwide. Former Kansas Governor Sam Brownback described China’s religious crackdown as a national security concern, saying, “China is at war with faith, and it’s at war with us.”
The Chinese Embassy in Washington dismissed the calls for intervention, stating that China “manages religious affairs in accordance with the law” and opposes US interference.
Meanwhile, a White House official confirmed that President Trump remains aware of the situation and “will always champion religious freedom around the world.”