Family of Chinese Pastor Hopeful Trump Can Free Him During Beijing Visit
Family members of a pastor detained in China by the nation’s communist government are optimistic that President Donald Trump can help secure the minister’s release during his visit to Beijing.
Ezra Jin was arrested in October as the Chinese Communist Party cracked down on Christian activity in the nation, according to a report from the New York Post.
Grace Jin Drexel — the daughter of Jin as well as a U.S. citizen who lives in Washington, D.C. — told the outlet that she experienced a “glimmer of hope” when Trump said he would mention her father’s imprisonment to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“This president has just a remarkable way of doing things that most people say are impossible,” she told the New York Post.
“If anyone, this president might be able to bring back my father.”
Drexel is pregnant with her third child — and she hopes her father can be back in the United States within the next four weeks before his grandchild is due.
On October 10, 2025, Chinese authorities launched coordinated nationwide raids against underground Christian leaders. Chinese pastor Ezra Jin and many others were arrested on charges of “inciting to subvert state power.”
According to his family, Jin is being held in harsh prison… pic.twitter.com/6ZUoOuAmYt
— The Free Press (@TheFP) May 11, 2026
“A week before my father was detained, we just told my dad that we got pregnant, and it was so early that we weren’t sharing it widely or anything like that,” Drexel said.
“And we’re really grateful that we are actually able to tell my dad about the baby before he was in prison.”
Drexel added, “It’s like this baby has kind of walked through it all with us since the beginning.”
The Christian Post noted that Jin is the pastor of Zion Church, an underground Protestant congregation in Beijing.
Nearly three dozen other Zion Church leaders and members were arrested or otherwise reported missing across China at the time of Jin’s arrest.
Jin converted to Christianity following the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, emerging as a house church movement figurehead in China.
He studied at Fuller Theological Seminary in California and returned to his home country to start Zion Church in 2007.
The congregation moved services online after authorities raided their Beijing sanctuary in 2018.
The church eventually drew 10,000 participants by means of channels like YouTube, Zoom, and WeChat.
The Christian Post reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as multiple elected officials, have called on the Chinese government to release Jin.
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