Pastor Jin Mingri, founder of China’s underground Zion Church, was recently detained by police in Beihai, Guangxi, in what observers view as a further escalation of Beijing’s crackdown on house churches. According to church spokesperson Long Jiang’en and Jin’s daughter Grace Jin, police raided Jin’s home last Friday night, citing “illegal use of information networks,” and he is currently held at Beihai City No. 2 Detention Center.
Long told Reuters that nearly simultaneously, about 30 pastors and church members across the country were detained. Five have since been released, while approximately 20 remain in custody. He described this as the largest-scale repression of Christians in China since 2018. In recent months alone, police have questioned over 150 believers and frequently disrupted Sunday gatherings and online sermons.
Founded in 2007 by Jin, a Peking University graduate, Zion Church began with just 20 members and has grown into an underground network spanning nearly 50 cities nationwide, with about 5,000 regular congregants. The church expanded rapidly during the pandemic via Zoom online meetings. Analysts note that its autonomous and decentralized structure has drawn government scrutiny.
Official documents charge Jin with “illegal use of information networks,” a crime carrying a maximum sentence of seven years. Supporters fear authorities may use this charge to accuse him of “illegally disseminating religious information online.” Jin, who suffers from diabetes and requires regular medication, faces potential health deterioration, and his lawyer has reportedly been barred from seeing him.
While about 44 million Christians are officially registered in China, estimates suggest tens of millions of believers continue to practice in unregistered house churches, increasingly subject to strict surveillance and restrictions.