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Pastor Jin tells House Committee on Natural Resources he and colleagues were detained in China
Summary
Pastor Jin told the House Committee on Natural Resources he and fellow church leaders were arrested across 10 cities in October 2025, that charges against him were altered while in custody, and that eight colleagues remain jailed; he thanked U.S. officials who he said pushed for his release.
Pastor Jin, who said he has been preaching in China for 30 years, told the House Committee on Natural Resources that he and other church leaders were detained and charged while carrying out religious activity. "The Chinese constitution guarantees the right for religious freedom in China as well," he said, but added that the Communist Party exerts authority above the constitution and treats religion as suspect.
Jin said arrests in October 2025 affected leaders across 10 cities and described his own detention in a southern city, difficulties obtaining counsel, and a change in formal accusations: "At the time when they arrested us, it was, on the charge of illegal use of information online. By the time they sent us to the prosecutors and to the court, the charges changed to fraud and illegal business operation," he said. He described Chinese authorities as viewing some church activity as "illegal business" and likened that treatment to branding religious groups as criminal enterprises.
He recounted being transferred out of prison on September 3 and taken to an airport, where an embassy official greeted him, "You are free now." Jin credited U.S. advocacy for his release, saying he was "so thankful for secretary Rubio" and that 44 congressional members had written letters on his behalf. He also said he was "extremely grateful to president Trump" for raising his case with Xi Jinping while that official was in China.
Jin said he arrived in the United States in time for Independence Day celebrations with family after eight years apart and that he received a visa stamp when he landed in Los Angeles. He said eight colleagues from Zion Church remain imprisoned and cited the case of Pastor Franklin Wong Lin (identified in the testimony as a Wheaton College graduate with a PhD in Old Testament theology) as an example of the broader impact, describing pressure on families that included housing and schooling disruptions since June 2025.
He closed by urging committee members and attendees to continue advocating for Christians and other prisoners of conscience in China, asking them to "be the voice for the voiceless." No formal vote or committee action on his testimony was recorded during this session.
