Trump pledges to raise detained pastor's case with Xi Jinping during Beijing visit as family pleads for help

Five weeks earlier the commencement of her 3rd child, Grace Drexel sat successful Washington speaking astir her father, the gramps her children hardly know, and the anticipation that President Donald Trump mightiness assistance bring him home.

Her father, Pastor Ezra Jin, has spent the past 7 months detained successful China alongside dozens of different Christian leaders successful what advocates picture arsenic 1 of the largest crackdowns connected an underground Protestant religion successful caller years.

Now, arsenic Trump visits Beijing for meetings with Chinese person Xi Jinping, Drexel says her household is clinging to a uncommon infinitesimal of anticipation aft Trump publically pledged to rise Pastor Jin’s imprisonment straight with Xi.

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Ezra Jin Mingri, caput pastor of the Zion Church, poses successful Beijing connected Sept. 12, 2018, days aft officials unopen down 1 of China’s largest underground Protestant churches. (Fred Dufour/AFP via Getty Images)

"I’ll bring it up," Trump told a newsman erstwhile asked whether helium planned to sermon the detained pastor during the trip.

"It’s specified a tremendous honor," Drexel told Fox News Digital. "To person 1 of the astir almighty men successful the satellite cognize my begetter by sanction and notation his lawsuit to General Secretary Xi Jinping."

White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital, "There is nary greater champion for spiritual state astir the satellite than President Trump."

For Drexel, this could extremity years of suffering. Her household has been separated for astir a decennary — her parent and younger brothers fled China successful 2018 aft authorities unopen down Zion Church’s carnal sanctuary successful Beijing, fearing they could go collateral targets successful the increasing crackdown connected Christians.

Pastor Jin chose to enactment down with his community.

"My begetter really had galore opportunities to use for a greenish card," Drexel said. "He felt the calling for China."

Drexel herself has not seen her begetter successful idiosyncratic since 2020.

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Ezra Jin with his daughter, Grace Drexel, earlier Chinese authorities detained the pastor during a crackdown connected autarkic Christian churches. (Family photo) (Fox News)

Now large with her 3rd child, she says each she wants is for her begetter to yet reunite with his family.

"We would really, truly emotion for our children to besides acquisition and larn from their Grandpa," she said.

Drexel described her begetter not arsenic a governmental dissident, but arsenic a pastor whose lone ngo was to stay faithful to Christianity extracurricular Communist Party control.

"My begetter is simply a pastor successful China and similar Christians everywhere, helium believed that the religion should lone person 1 God and service 1 God," she told Fox News Digital.

She described Zion Church arsenic autarkic from authorities oversight and profoundly rooted successful Scripture and assemblage service.

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 U.S. President Donald Trump reviews an grant defender with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a invited ceremonial astatine the Great Hall of the People connected May 14, 2026 successful Beijing, China. President Trump is gathering with President Xi Jinping successful Beijing to code the Iran conflict, commercialized imbalances, and the Taiwan concern portion establishing caller bilateral boards for economical and AI oversight. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

"We helped with the nine and the assemblage astir us, emotion our neighbors, and to emotion God," she said.

But beyond the relation of pastor, Drexel says she simply knew her begetter arsenic a gentle antheral devoted to those astir him.

"Ultimately, I cognize my begetter arsenic conscionable a precise gentle and benignant man," she said. "He is not precise confrontational generally. He conscionable loved everyone astir him."

"He ne'er adjacent criticized anyone, including his children, overmuch arsenic we were increasing up," she added.

Drexel tearfully said that relatives learned that her begetter had been handcuffed, his caput shaved, and that helium was struggling to person medicine portion successful detention.

"And this benignant and gentle antheral is present successful prison," she said. "All due to the fact that helium was conscionable starring a church."

The crackdown against Zion Church began years earlier Pastor Jin’s arrest.

According to Drexel, the unit intensified astir 2016 and 2017 aft Xi Jinping rewrote China’s spiritual regulations and formally precocious the argumentation known arsenic the "Sinicization" of religion, an effort critics accidental forces spiritual groups to align with Communist Party ideology.

Around that time, Zion Church became 1 of galore churches targeted by the authorities.

Initially, Drexel says authorities officials demanded the religion instal facial-recognition cameras wrong the sanctuary to show worshipers.

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Ezra Jin leads a work astatine Zion Church successful China earlier authorities unopen down the autarkic congregation amid a broader crackdown connected Christian churches. (Family photo)

"We told them each our services are public. You tin travel and presumption anytime," she said. "But we didn’t consciousness that we wanted to enactment an other magnitude of surveillance oregon power connected our congregation."

After the religion refused, Drexel says authorities installed surveillance cameras successful the building’s lobby alternatively and began systematically targeting religion members.

"Each and each subordinate who came connected Sunday [was] being harassed," she said. Some worshipers mislaid jobs, others were forced retired of apartments, portion immoderate families were threatened done their children’s acquisition and adjacent their parents’ status benefits.

"It was each imaginable nether the Chinese Communist Party if they wanted you to halt doing something," she said.

Authorities yet confiscated the church’s spot and unopen down its carnal worship space. Pastor Jin past moved services online and into smaller location gatherings, which led authorities to aboriginal impeach religion leaders of the "illegal usage of accusation networks" due to the fact that of those online and decentralized worship activities.

But she says her father’s lawsuit is lone 1 portion of a overmuch larger crackdown unfolding crossed China.

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The household of Ezra Jin, whose girl Grace Drexel says they person been separated from him for years amid China’s crackdown connected autarkic Christian churches. (Family photo)

"There are truthful galore pastors and religion leaders and churches being persecuted successful China actively today," she added. "We cognize that determination are hundreds of pastors that are presently successful situation oregon are successful detention."

"This is simply a precise captious play successful China," Drexel said. "And it’s precise disheartening and precise scary for galore Christians successful China."

The broader persecution run against Christians, Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, and Falun Gong practitioners is besides documented successful "China’s War connected Faith," the precocious released publication by erstwhile Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback.

Brownback profiles believers imprisoned, tortured, and surveilled for practicing religion extracurricular state-approved institutions and argues that the Chinese Communist Party progressively sees autarkic religion itself arsenic a menace to Party authority.

For Drexel, Trump’s determination to publically notation her father’s sanction represents much than diplomacy.

"We anticipation that arsenic the 2 leaders are gathering unneurotic that they volition some person a softening of the hearts and volition merchandise my begetter and let him to travel to the U.S.," she said.

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In this photograph taken Aug. 4, 2018, Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri leads a people connected the basics of Christian beliefs astatine the Zion Church successful Beijing, China. (Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

In a connection to Fox News Digital, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said the Chinese authorities protects "freedom of spiritual content successful accordance with the law" and argued that radical of each taste groups successful China bask spiritual freedom. Liu pointed to authoritative figures showing astir 200 cardinal spiritual believers successful China, on with much than 380,000 clerical personnel, astir 5,500 spiritual groups and much than 140,000 registered places of worship.

Liu said Beijing regulates spiritual affairs involving "national interests and the nationalist interest" portion opposing what it describes arsenic amerciable oregon transgression activities carried retired nether the guise of religion. He besides accused overseas countries and media outlets of interfering successful China’s interior affairs nether the pretext of spiritual state and urged journalists to "respect the facts" and halt what helium described arsenic "attacking and smearing" China’s spiritual policies and spiritual state record.