Eight pastors and ministry workers from Beijing’s Zion Church remain in detention in China nearly a year after authorities launched a widespread crackdown on the unregistered Protestant church.
International Christian Concern reported September 22 that the eight detained leaders are Wang Lin, Gao Yingjia, Wang Zhong, Yin Huibin, Liu Zhenbin, Lin Shucheng, Wang Cong and Wu Qiuyu.
Chinese authorities began a large-scale crackdown on Zion Church in October 2025, detaining pastors and other church workers in several locations.
Zion Church operates outside China’s state-sanctioned Protestant church system.
Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, founder of Zion Church, was among those detained during the crackdown. Jin was released in July 2026 after approximately nine months in detention and was allowed to reunite with his family in the United States.
Eight other Zion Church leaders and workers, however, remain detained.
ChinaAid reports that they are being held at detention centers in Beihai, Guangxi Province.
The detained church members face charges including fraud and illegal business operations connected to their church ministry and the sale of online religious courses.
Zion Church has rejected the allegations, while religious-freedom advocates argue that the case is part of broader government pressure on independent Christian congregations.
The case has received international attention as religious-freedom organizations continue calling for the detained church leaders to be released.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has also called attention to the imprisonment of religious believers in China, including Christian leaders.
For Christians following religious-freedom developments around the world, the continuing detention of the Zion Church leaders highlights the restrictions faced by congregations operating outside government-approved religious institutions in China.
Reference:
International Christian Concern — September 22, 2026
persecution/2026/09/22/trump-xi-meeting-comes-amid-ongoing-persecution-in-china/
