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Pastor freed from prison in China weeks after Trump requested his release

Jul 4, 2026, 7:43 PM | Updated: 8:24 pm

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BY ASSOCIATED PRESS


WASHINGTON (AP) — A pastor of a prominent underground church who was detained in China in October has been released, less than two months after U.S. President Donald Trump brought up his case when meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, according to rights advocates.

Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, of the underground Zion Church, arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday, and “is finally reunited with his family,” Frances Hui of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation wrote on X.

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group of Western lawmakers, also reported his release and shared a photo of the pastor with his daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, both smiling.

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Pastor freed from prison in China weeks after Trump requested his release